


No Sugar Coating It

by foxymonstrocity



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Drama, F/M, Love, Mobstuck AU, Mobtale - Freeform, polyamorous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-06-20 13:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15535638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxymonstrocity/pseuds/foxymonstrocity
Summary: Mobstuck AUWhen Sans offered you a job, you thought he was crazy. You were a waitress in a diner, why on earth did he think giving you an important job was a smart idea? Not that you could know but the important parts came after hours when the real business could take place. Him and Papyrus want to protect you, the only way to do that is to keep you shielded from what goes on.Unfortunately, that seems inevitable.Danger seems to want to follow you.





	1. I Love This Job

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone!  
> this is a present to a friend of mine on tumblr, it was supposed to be one chapter but i rather like the idea of drawing this out as much as possible
> 
> any suggestions/ thoughts are very much appreciated !
> 
> enjoooooy !

Death was something Sans was used to by now. Given the family “business” it was something you had to get used to, otherwise you’d be putting the people you love at risk. That’s what his father told him at least. Gaster, the mastermind of the company and- you guess it- the father, expected great things from his son when he allowed them to move into the human world. Spreading protection to monsters as they migrated from the Underground. As an idea, it was wonderful! It was until you looked at the gory details.  
Monsters and humans have been living together for about a year now. Some have accepted it and are co-living wonderfully. Others are indifferent but are still managing well. Then there are the humans that loath monsters and want them gone. Humans like the one Sans was facing right now who looked like he was about to crap his pants. This human was apart of a gang that inflicted violent acts against monsters in the town Sans was protecting. His own “business” was booming, how they covered it up was unusual but oddly working. Some sort of pet based operations, the stores were small and nice.. and then there was warehouses, filled with weapons and monsters willing to protect their kind. The head building was where Sans and his brother spent most of their time, as long as they didn’t have to go out. The face of the company, the voice anyone spoke to if they so dared to want to meet Sans or Papyrus- was you. The best damn secretary in the world. It was possibly the most sexist job ever but we are in that time, so what can you do?  
You were protected in more ways than you knew. Sans and Papyrus have literally protected you from peril but also about the actual danger/ intent of their job. You weren’t fragile but they didn’t want you getting hurt. You were the first friend they made up here after all! Papyrus, of course, instigated the friendship. He and his brother found the crime-ridden town not too far from the Undergound. It was the perfect start up for their business.  
The crappy restaurant read ‘Best Diner In Town’ which was an understatement but Papyrus wouldn’t take no for an answer. The waffles and coffee were good, actually. Sans smiled as his brother made conversation with you, complaining about working here and Papyrus said it was better than his job. Growing up in this town must have taught you well, instead of asking questions you just laughed. A genuine laugh, nonetheless. It made Sans feel... giddy? No, it must have been the coffee.  
Apparently you were wasting too much time and the cook started yelling at you. Sans looked around the near empty establishment and gave the cook a glare. There was maybe two other people in there and neither of them were in a hurry at 12:03am. You calmly said you were going on break, slammed the bill down on their table and left out the front entrance. Papyrus made a confused look at the paper. It read ‘Thanks for the talk, breakfast is on me. X O X O’ with a skeleton doodle. If the brothers were taught anything from their father, it was to never be indebted to anyone. The two gave a knowing look to eachother and followed you out the front door, finding you sitting ways away smoking.  
Normally Papyrus would sternly warn a human the dangers of smoking, as it could kill them, but he did something different. Sans watched his brother sit next to you and ask for a drag. He smoked it like it was his first, it was, which made you laugh and take it away from him. Papyrus’ goal was to make you smile so failing at smoking never made him feel so good. Sans sat on the opposite side of you and took a real drag from your cigarette. You gave a playfully suspicious look to both of them, asking what they wanted. Apparently ‘you’ wasn’t the right answer but it did make you laugh more. The warm, delightful feeling lingered with both the skeletons. You thanked them for cheering you up, shook their hands and went back inside to continue your shift.  
The skeletons continued to come back to that diner, tipping you well every time but it never felt enough. The debt was more than repaid but it felt to them like it wasn’t. 

“What’ll it be tonight, fellas?” You asked, using a weird accent that made Sans chuckle.

“Actually,” Papyrus started, too excited for his own good, “We have something for you!” 

“Is that so!” You sat next to Pap, holding your head in your hands with a lopsided smile, “By all means, lemme have it.”

“It’s a, uh, job offer.” Sans scratched the back of his skull and then tugged his tie loose. Was it getting warm in here again? He didn’t even drink any coffee yet. You sat up straight, a serious look on your face. 

“My brother and I have created a business in the pet industry. We would like you to be our leading lady!” Papyrus said, suddenly feeling nervous.

“B-But me? Guys, c’mon, you know I ain’t qualified for anything fancy.” You admitted, tucking your (h/c) locks behind your ear. 

“We disagree.” Sans spoke calmly, “Pap and I think you’d be the perfect fit. It’s easy stuff and you’d get an assistant in case you need help. Someone who is qualified.” He teased.

“A.. Are you serious?” You whispered, “Honestly, if you’re joking Sans, I-“

Sans pulled out a contract from his coat, unfolding it and placing it in front of you.  
You wiped tears away before they could fall and laughed, agreeing whole heartedly. 

It was a great start to the company. As suspected, you were a great asset. Despite not having “qualifications”, you were doing great- more than just secretary work even. You practically were the head of all the departments. Aside from the skeleton brothers, of course.  
Speaking of, time to deal with this asshole in front of Sans. It was a rather wealthy human, one who paid big money for their rival gang to break into one of their pet stores to try and find weapons. He was making offers left and right, anything to get his ass off the line.

“Seriously, fellas, I-I could wire you the money right now!”

“Really? Prove it, Pap, untie one of his hands and give ‘em his phone.” Sans ordered. His brother obeyed, holding the phone and watching his moves intensely. As he did, Sans phone started going off. The caller ID was none other than you, he fought back a smile and sent you to voicemail. Another message popped up on his phone, the money had been wired to the Gaster Account. Sans looked up to see his brother had the phone now. Immediately after sending the money, he snapped it in half. The guy protested but Sans kicked the chair back and leaned over the human.

“Buddy, you’re about to have a really bad day if you don’t tell me where your little friends are.” Sans eye socket started glowing blue. Before anything too brutal could occur, the human sang like a canary. He leaked out every bit of information he had in him. 

Sans used his foot to bring the chair upright again, “Thanks for your cooperation.”

Then Papyrus shot the man in the back of the head, “You have the address?” He asked, wiping his gun down. Sans scribbled the coordinates onto a piece of scratch paper and handed it to his brother.  
“I do indeed, bro.” Sans lazy smile had returned, he slung his coat over his shoulder and opened the door. Outside waited four monsters. 

Papyrus pointed to two of them, “Ditch the body here. Make sure the room is spotless, as usual. Doing great, everyone.” He sang darkly. 

Sans smirked as he and his brother began walking towards the elevator that would soon bring them to you.

“I love this job.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An accidental slumber party occurs after something suspicious happens at dinner.

Chapter 2

You sat on the sidewalk, outside your favorite restaurant, waiting for your two friends to arrive. You took a drag from your cigarette and looked down the sidewalk for any sign of them. It wasn’t uncommon for them to be late so you weren’t worried. You’d called Sans to see if they wanted you to get a table but it wasn’t busy inside so why bother. You stared at the concrete then checked your watch again. Technically they still had a few minutes before you considered them late so you weren’t too annoyed. Yet. The three of you had grown close over the two years you’d known them.   
Once every two weeks you try to have dinner, whoever picks the place pays, and it was your turn! You were growing sick of Grillby’s. Though you did see the skeletons every day, it never felt like enough. You really enjoyed spending time with the brothers- and you couldn’t exactly have quality time at work, someone had to do their jobs for them!Sometimes you wondered where they disappeared to but then shrugged it off. You honestly didn’t mind, as long as you knew they were ok at the end of the day. 

“Well, well, well ‘bout time.” You said, standing up and stomping on the cigarette. Papyrus would normally scold you for smoking but seeing as you’ve cut down a lot recently, he’d let it slide. Also he was completely stunned by your outfit. As was Sans. Your hair was (hairstyyyle), as always, but with a little cat clip to hold a lock of hair by your ear. It was a simple, black t-shirt dress that was slightly shorter than your old uniform at the diners. It was growing colder out so over it you had on a (f/c) hooded leather jacket that was 2 sizes too big. You wore black ballerina flats that reminded them how dainty you were in all the big clothing.

“Nice, uh, dress?” Sans phrased that terribly. It definitely looked nice, especially on you, but was it a dress or a really big shirt? 

“Thanks! My friend made it, said it’s the next big thing.” You smiled, giving an awkward curtesy, “Now c’mon, I’m freezing my tits off.”  
The brothers laughed, having grown used to your crude humor and followed you inside. After you were sat at the booth in the back of the restaurant, you shed off your jacket. That revealed how perfectly the shirt-dress hugged you in all the right places. Sans loosened his tie and tried not to stare. Papyrus whispered a ‘wowie’ and then sipped his water quickly.

“So what’d you do today?” You asked, pulling your (drink) towards you.

“Pap and I had to check out what happened with that pet store last week.” Sans spoke for them, worried his brother might say too much. 

“Oh, that’s right. What did happen? Are the pets ok?”

“That store didn’t have any pets, actually.” Papyrus scratched his skull. He truly hated lying to you but he’d gotten very good at “stretching the truth”, that way it almost didn’t count as deceit! You trusted the skeletons. You’d never questioned them once, even despite knowing about the organizations that happen around this town.

“Yeah, just some bored teenagers or somethin’.” Sans added. 

“Oh that’s a relief. ‘Nuff ‘bout work, though!” You quickly changed the subject, much to their delight. The dinner was successful, as always! The three of you conversed about various subjects. Sans would make terrible puns when the food arrived, or whenever they seemed necessary. Papyrus would mention something interesting that caught his eye. You would all have three more drinks before paying the bill and then start to head home. Before you could, though, the waiter nervously returned.

“Your bill has been paid.” He said.

You narrowed your eyes and turned your head to the skeletons. They looked just as suspicious as you.

“You guys didn’t... Who paid for us?” You asked the waiter.

“T-T-The gentleman at the bar.” He sputtered. 

You slid out of the booth, to Papyrus and Sans dismay, and head over to the gentlemen at the bar. There were only three, all laughing together. The brothers didn’t know whether to follow you or hide their faces. The latter obviously wasn’t an option, they’d clearly been seen. They watched you politely talking to the men, humans. Sans watched suspiciously, memorizing the faces of the men as they turned to look towards the booth when you gestured that way. The men laughed at something you said, you waved and head back over to the table.

“Relax, it was my dads friends. They came over and played poker, like, a month ago.” You eased their nerves. Papyrus audibly showed relief, sighing as if he’d been holding his breath since you left. Which he might’ve been. You all toasted and chugged the remains of your drinks down. Sans lead the way out, like usual, and began walking home.

“Oh, actually, I was wonderin’ if I could come over to your guys’ place for a little? I’ll call a cab if it gets too late, the roommates having her boyfriend over.” You made a gagging gesture that made Sans chuckle.

“Of course! The Great (Name) is welcome at our house!” Papyrus slung am arm over your shoulder and you started laughing as he began walking. You slipped an arm around him and tried to keep up with his steps. Sans smiled at you two but it faded as he glanced back at the restaurant. They’d be taking a different way home.

You tried not to let it show but you were nervous. Sans and Papyrus either didn’t know you lied to them, or they did and were just playing along for your sake. You knew them well enough to lean towards they didn’t know, they would’ve addressed it the moment you were in private. You felt guilty for lying but they looked ready to bolt out those doors and you didn’t want to make a scene. The truth was you had no idea who those men were.

“Excuse me?” You gave a polite smile after gaining the attention of the men who supposedly paid for your meal. The least you could do was say thank you, maybe offer to buy their drinks.

“Yes, lil’ lady?” One smiled, it wasn’t a creepy smile but it wasn’t welcoming.

“I just wanted to say thank you, for paying for dinner.” You said.

“Oh, it wasn’t no problem, miss.” Another man said, tipping his hat to you.

“You and yer.. friends celebrating?” The other asked, raising his eyebrow at the word.

“Oh no! Those are my bosses, quick business recap before they leave again.” You lied with a chuckle, gesturing to the booth. They all nodded, chuckling with you. “Well thank you again, don’t let your drinks get warm.” You flashed finger guns at them and they all laughed. Your nerves fell the moment you turned back to the booth and saw Sans and Papyrus looking at you. You didn’t want to go home after that. 

That’s probably how you ended up here. More like, definitely. Papyrus had fallen asleep on the couch during a Mettaton episode. He was getting rather popular up here, you could see the appeal. Sans had fallen asleep too. You had your head in Paps’ lap and your legs arched over Sans’. Each of them had a hand on you. You blushed a bit as you closed your eyes and relished the moment. Part of you wished you could stay like this forever.  
Humans and monsters had started dating recently but it wasn’t a very welcomed idea in this town. That racist way of thinking pissed you off to the core. Why not just let them be happy? Your mind flashed to Papyrus and Sans. You loved them both. You’ve never vocalized those feelings but you didn’t feel like you had to! Everything was going perfect the way it was now. Plus what if they didn’t feel that way. You vaguely knew of monster relationships, some were polyamorous. You wondered if the skeleton brothers would think you’re a weirdo for daydreaming of a life like that. Being with both of them, loving and adoring them every day in a more intimate way than this. Not just... sexually- perish the thought, they didn’t even have genitals! They were skeletons! But not just sexually, intimate like sleeping in a bed together, being there when they woke up, having tickle fights and making snacks at 2am. What you were thinking was basically the friendship you had now but exclusive to the three of you.

A relationship with Papyrus and Sans.

That sounded amazing if you were being honest with yourself.

Maybe in your dreams.


	3. A Little Longer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans fails to send the daily report to Gaster and gets an unpleasant visit from him. A talk about you ensues which puts his nerves in end.  
> Also skeleton snuggles!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this ones so short, i didn’t realize it but it’s ok cause who doesn’t love fillers? 
> 
> enjoy ~

Chapter 3

Sans phone went off in the middle of the night. He jumped at the vibrations coming from his back pocket. His neck was sore from sleeping awkwardly but when he saw where he was he couldn’t complain. Sans snatched the remote and muted the television as he answered the phone.

“Sans.” It was Gaster.

“Hey.” He manages to say, clearing his throat as quietly as he could. Sans carefully moved out from under your legs without disturbing you. He watched as you rolled onto your side, facing away from the tv, and hugged Papyrus with one arm.

“You didn’t send me the reports from today.” Gaster said calmly. Today? Sans searched the room for a clock. It was only 11, he was internally praised the stars he still had time to sleep. Tomorrow might’ve been Saturday but there was still work to do.

“Right, sorry, I fell asleep at the desk. Gimme a second, I’ll send them to you.” Sans started walking to his office.

“No need to. I’ve retrieved them myself.” Gaster said, hanging up the phone as Sans stepped into his office. Gaster sat at his desk. Sans turned on the lights and closed the door behind him. 

“There is no need to lie to me, son, but if you are going to, I suggest you get better at it.” Gaster stood up. Sans swallowed and rubbed his neck.

“There is a guest here.” The tall skeleton stated. That would be his way of demanding for an explanation. 

“That’s, (Name). The, uh, secretary.” Sans explained.

“You failed to mention she was a human.”

“I didn’t think it mattered.” Sans defended, “She’s trustworthy and does a good job.”

“I agree to half of that statement, I have seen her work. No human is trustworthy, though, Sans.” His father glared down at him.

“Did Grillby tell you?” Sans changed the subject.

“Of the vandalization of one of my stores, yes. He has also been introduced to your “friend”. You value his acceptance over mine?”

“It’s not like that!” Sans sighed, “She’s a good human, I’ve checked her.” 

“Are you still indebted to her?”

“No.”

Gaster hummed in response. This was new. Sans was expecting an outburst of sorts. His father wasn’t the biggest fan of humans. Interested in them, sure, but not like this. 

“What does she know?” Gaster asked, calm once again.

“That this is some kinda pet business.” Sans leaned against the wall.

“We will keep it that way. For now.” Gaster warned, “I do expect an end to any more destruction to the companies property.”

“Took care of it.” 

“And I wish to meet this... (Name). Personally. If she can charm her way up to you, I’m sure she’ll fascinate me.” Gaster said with a smirk. Sans began walking to the door, opening it but stopping when his father snapped his fingers, demanding attention once more.

“Oh, and Sans?” His voice was dangerously close to a growl.

“Yes?”

“Do not fail to report to me again.” Gaster warned before vanishing.

Sans turned the lights off and closed the door. He sighed, disappointed in himself. Though he was relieved, that went way better than it could have gone. He returned to the couch to see you’d fallen on the floor and Papyrus was now snoring. Sans snapped a quick picture and then made the decision for an emergency sleepover. There was no way he would wake either of you up at this point. Part of him didn’t even think he could. He teleported the three of you to his bedroom. Sans was lucky that he cleaned it yesterday or you’d wake up horrified and sort his room for him.  
He had the biggest bed in the house and it fit the three of you perfectly, with just enough room to sprawl out. He lied his brother on the bed and then you in the middle. Sans took his shirt off and turned on the air conditioning so none of you would get too uncomfortably hot. As soon as he lied on his back, you rolled over and nestled your head near his, resting your hand on his rib cage. Sans breath hitched for a moment before he relaxed and smiled. Papyrus rolled over to spoon you, hugging you close to him.

Sans alarm went off too soon. It was about 8 hours later but what time was it set for, 6? He could do 7, right?

Yeah, 7 is fine.

Just a few more minutes like this. The second Sans sat up to set his alarm to snooze, he was awake. He sighed, annoyed that his mind wouldn’t just go back to sleep. The skeleton rolled over and looked to you and his brother, still snuggled up. Sans reached around, hoping to find his phone when you whined. He froze and you stopped. Then he tried to get up again and you began whining. Sans smiled and lied back down, you instantly renewed your spot cuddled up to him. Even if he couldn’t sleep, at least he could enjoy this for a little longer.


	4. She’s Not Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet a dangerous group without meaning to while Sans and Papyrus are preoccupied with a meeting. An interesting offer is brought up, shot down but left on the table in case of a ‘worse case scenario’.

Chapter 4

The weekend was over and it was back to work with all of you. You’d apologized for spending the night but neither Papyrus nor Sans was upset. The offer for you to stay over was always welcomed. It was comforting, you’d thought you’d overstayed your welcome from previous times. When you first were recruited for the business it seemed all your nights ended with you falling asleep on the couch or in Sans office. Yet every time you woke up in the guest bedroom or alone in one of their beds. It was a nice change to wake up with both of them there. You blushed and forced the memory away for a day dreaming time. Work mode was on now!  
You’d made a list of meetings for Sans and Papyrus to go to later on that day. Sans crumbled his up and tried to make it into the trash can, he would’ve made too it if Papyrus didn’t slam the paper out of the way. You whipped out another list and slammed it on Sans desk, giving him a warning glare. He laughed and took the paper, putting it in his coat pocket. You gave them a briefing on what they needed to do today and what you would be doing, Sans nodded but was obviously tuning you out. Papyrus was interested in what you had to say but was waiting for you to get to the interesting part of the news.

“And finally, yes, Mettaton will be coming for an endorsement around 3:45.” You sighed.

“Is that all?” Sans said in a bored tone.

“If ya wanna be here past 4, be my guest but I have to go grocery shopping today.” 

“How can you two be so nonchalant about the wonderful Mettaton coming!” Papyrus gasped.

“Celebrities come here constantly, Pap.” You rubbed your temples. He wasn’t annoying you, you’ve just had a weird headache all day. Maybe you were getting stressed, a smoke break seemed in order soon. 

“Alright, I have to go file some very non-important files and look pretty while I do.” You joked.

“You always look pretty, (Name).” Papyrus said. You blushed at that and smiled at the skeleton, shocked at the comment, “Thanks, Pap...” With that you were off.

Sans turned to his brother as soon as the door shut. His usual lazy smirk was a full on smile, he started laughing uncontrollably at him. Papyrus, on the other hand, was completely petrified he just said that out loud. Sure he gave genuine compliments like that usually but THAT was something else!

“Brother, I think I may be ill!” Papyrus gasped, running over and laying on top of Sans desk, pushing random things over the side.

“You’re not sick, bro. You like (Name).” It was obvious to Sans but probably not as obvious as he was making it sound.

“Of course I like her! But this is a different feeling!”

“Yeah, I know the one.” Sans mumbled with a blush.

“You are in love as well?!”

“Who said anything about love!” Sans jumped out of his seat.

“You and I did! Just seconds ago!” Papyrus exclaimed with pride. Sans fell back into his chair and let his skull face plant into the desk. 

The day whizzed by like it was nothing. To keep up the charade, the skeleton brothers stayed in the building all day. They would visit the warehouse tomorrow, nothing bad was going on anyways. Papyrus started to get antsy around 3, his idol would be here any moment! Sans was dreading it, he snuck in shots of whiskey whenever he could. They’d both met Mettaton before, he was bearable in small doses. Yet it seemed every visits was worth 5 doses at once.  
Sans avoided every single one of his meetings, sending Papyrus to the conference room with you. He couldn’t help but notice a bad feeling creeping on as the day passed. The closer the time got to you leaving, the more the feeling grew. By the time he decided to act on the feeling it was too late. Mettaton had invited himself into the office with a shit eating grin. Papyrus was giddy, rushing up and introducing himself. The robot let his friend, Dr Alphys in, which peaked Sans interest, before slamming the door behind her.

“Darlings, it’s been too long!” Mettaton sang, taking a seat in front of Sans desk. Alphys sat next to her creation, waving a little to the skeletons.

“Dr Alphys, Mettaton, it’s nice to see you.” Sans said as politely as he could.

“What seems to bring you here?” Papyrus asked, mainly to Alphys. He knew why his idol was here.

“W-Well you see,” Alphys began, “We got a call from Gaster.” 

Well shit. 

This keeps getting better and better, doesnt it.

Papyrus smile faltered, he remained composed though was clearly unhappy now. His brother told him about the unpleasant, surprise visit from their father. He definitely did not like his pre-made opinions of you. Mettaton nodded and continued, “He thought it’d be a wonderful idea to keep up the charade and let you endorse my new show cooking show!”

“I thought you were endorsing us?” Sans asked.

“That’s neither here nor there, darling!” Mettaton chuckled, “You both show up on my show and then we sponsor a few ads for your little pet shops.”

Alphys fiddled with her fingers, “H-He, uh, also thought it m-might be a good idea to transfer (Name) under our care.”

“What.” Papyrus was no longer bewildered by Mettaton appearance, his voice dropped to a serious tone.

“As my assistant.” The robot started, his voice serious as well now, “He said she did marvelous work for your company without even knowing what it is!” 

Sans was furious with his father for giving information like this out without thinking of the consequences. Then it dawned on him Gaster never did anything out of spite or pettiness, he had to have a thought out plan or he wouldn’t have said anything.

“Be that as it may, (Name) is ours.” Sans said with a sigh. 

“I don’t see your name on her.” Mettaton teased.

Alphys shut anything down before it could escalate, “It was an idea. Y-You don’t have to but, uh, maybe keep the offer. Just i-in case things go... bad.” 

Sans and Papyrus could work with that. It wasn’t a terrible suggestion. For a worse case scenario. 

“As for the endorsement, next week Wednesday is when were filming. Can you make it?” Mettaton crosses his legs, “My fashion designers can make you look presentable. Oh, and bring your little pet. If she has any of Papyrus’ good taste, I’m sure she loves my show.”

“Deal. Papyrus, help Mettaton set the date with (Name).” Sans rubbed his skull, the headache taking place. Papyrus stood up and showed the robot to the door, following him to your desk. 

“S-Sans?” Alphys pried in her usual way, “It’s not personal.. You know that.”

“Sorry for getting upset.” He sighed, “I know it’s just business. (Name) is important to this company.”

“T-The company doesn’t exist.” The yellow reptile attempted a joke, Sans smiled a bit for her sake.

“She’s important to Pap and I.” 

“Then j-just, uh, be careful! This ‘b-business’ is unpredictable.” She used air quotations around the word.

“How’d you ever get so lucky to stay out of it?” Sans smirked, making Alphys blush. He knew that her soulmate kept them both safe. Gaster even trusted the fish monster to her own share of his company’s. It was actually in the next town over. 

“Undyne, uh, missed you two. W-We should try and catch up soon?” The dinosaur suggested. Sans nodded and walked her to the door. When he poked his head around the corner, he noticed Papyrus looked distraught. 

“Bro? What’s up?” He asked, growing nervous. The bad feeling crept in and settled in the back of his mind. 

“(Name) left for the day, I managed to set up the date for next week. It’s just..”

The skeletons usually walked you home. Or sent someone to make sure you got home safely. They did neither of those!

Abandoning Alphys and Mettaton in the building was something they could apologize for later. This wasn’t like them to forget about this. It used to be some monster they entrusted to make sure you got home every day. Every since the three of you grew closer and lived nearby, they didn’t need a random monster overlooking you. The skeletons always had time to make sure you were ok before they could continue on with the dangerous, illegal activities that came with the night.  
As he grew more worried, Sans became frustrated. Normally he wouldn’t overreact like this but it felt like his father was waiting for something like this to happen. A slip up. Any kind of slip up to prove Gaster’s point and submit to whatever plan he’d already conjured up in his mind.  
Papyrus was calling you as Sans drove over to your apartment. You didn’t live too far from them, he could thank himself for that. Sans hand picked that apartment for this very reason. After teleporting home, they hopped in the car and would be there in minutes. He could teleport to your house but you had a roommate that wasn’t a fan of theirs, to put it nicely. Then, of course, there was the off chance you weren’t home-

He could smack himself. 

You’d told both of them where you were going earlier. You had to pick up groceries. You didn’t have a car so that meant you rode your moped to work today. The skeleton brothers insisted on driving you but you must’ve said no for this very reason! Sans growled as he spun the car around and stepped on the gas, now heading the direction of your favorite grocery store. Apparently you’d picked up the phone, after however many tries this made, and sounded scared. This only made Sans drive faster. He didn’t even bother finding a stall or turning off the car. As the skeleton stormed into the grocery store, humans and monster alike moved aside. Papyrus quickly followed after his brother, “She said she’s in the managers office.”   
This made sense. The reason you came to this store was you were loyal. The family that owned this establishment was friends with your parents. The skeletons found the back of the store and entered, much to a workers complaint. Sans and Papyrus entered the office- apparently it was locked and he broke it, just by turning the handle to hard. The manager of the store was sitting on his desk, his wife trying to console you. Sans sighed and calmed down immediately when he saw you, leaning against the desk and forcing himself to relax. Papyrus went to your other side and you latched onto him, shaking like a leaf. 

“What happened?” Sans asked, having regained his composure. His sudden outburst of adrenaline reminded him he couldn’t act that way anymore. Emotions like this would interfere with work and that was unacceptable. You let out a shaky breath and leaned into Papyrus, who was kneeling beside you.

“H-honestly nothing.” You whispered.


	5. Not Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a peak into what happened at the grocery store. You go home, upset, and drink on the kitchen floor to help you think. Meanwhile, Sans and Papyrus get their hands dirty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes we’re gonna gloss over some things but that will all become clear soon ~
> 
> a little vote for you guys:  
> who should confess first  
> you  
> sans   
> or papyrus? 
> 
> enjoy!

Chapter 5

The minute you’d stepped into the grocery store, you noticed something was different. Normally by this time the store was booming with business. Children begging their mom for a sweet, a monster or two accidentally knocking something over but today there was none of that. The store was eerily quiet, it made you want to turn around and go home. Being stubborn or loyal was up for debate but you’d never shopped anywhere else- unless it was for an emergency candy run with Papyrus but you don’t count those.  
You selected a cart and pulled the grocery list out of your pocket. Per request of your roomy, she asked you to grab a few extra items that she’s reimburse you for later.  
Walking down the isles was slightly more creepy than when you’d walked inside. The only sounds were people shuffling around or a squeaky cart being rolled around. You noticed there was a man in a trench coat in every isle you’d walked through. Their faces were different which relieved you, at least you weren’t crazy, but sent an uneasy feeling to your gut. You immediately knew you should’ve left when you had the chance.  
You put the items back, to make less work for the family friends, and left your cart by the entrance. You moved to the sliding doors when someone walked in and blocked your way.

“Nothing in here for ya?” He asked, still not budging. 

“Oh, no, I just forgot my wallet!” You lied, holding up your list hoping it would somehow be your ticket out of here.

“Relax, toots,” The man maneuvered his way around you, spinning you on your heel to re- enter the store, “It’s on me.”

Your heart stopped. It was the man from the bar! Unable to keep calm anymore, you inhaled a shaky breath. For 21 years you were able to duck your head low and stay off anyone’s radar. You weren’t an idiot, you knew the awful things that happened in this town but you kept your wits about you and stayed out of it. Anything remotely resembling a mob had you walking the other way. You’d lost enough people you cared about to those stupid mafias, you weren’t about to let yourself get tangled into something you loathed. Especially not these humans, the ones who were against everything you adored. Monsters, tranquility and apparently personal space!  
You managed to escape the mans light hold on you, stepping back and holding up your hands, “That’s much to generous, I-I have my own money.” 

As you were backing up, you jumped realizing you’d stepped onto someone’s foot. You’d apologize if it weren’t another thug, who pushed his trench coat back as he placed his fist on his hip. He had a gun. Of course he did, he was in a mob, they all probably had guns. You felt your phone go off in your jacket pocket but you couldn’t reach for it, nervous if you made any sudden moves you’d be shot right there. Your eyes darted for any employee or recognizable face. The manager, your dads friend, stepped out of the office with a young man. He was handsome, even if he was scowling. 

“What’s going on here.” The old man, Mr. Hutt, grumbled, walking towards you. 

The handsome man followed, putting on his hat. That might’ve been a code because the moment he did a few other men in trench coats, including the one behind you, left the store. The man who paid your bill at the restaurant remained. 

“Just catching up with this young lady, we met the other night.” He smiled, patting your shoulder. All three of them looked to you for a reply but you could only nod, scared to deny what he’d said.

“We’re leaving.” The handsome man said to Mr. Hutt and his goon, he looked to you then back at the manager with a threatening smile, “But we’ll be back to negotiate.” 

The moment they’d left, the employees returned and went about the store. Customers began chatting as usual, acting as if everything was normal. Mr. Hutt said something to you, his lips were moving but no sound came out. The noises of the store came to a stop as you began to fall backwards. 

“Nothing..” Sans nodded as you told your end of the story. 

“Not to pry, but why were they here?” Papyrus asked, still holding onto you as you shook in his arms. 

“That kid, James, was asking for ‘protection’ money.” Mr. Hutt replied, “When he told me what he was ‘protecting’ us against I told him I wasn’t interested.”

“Which was?” Sans asked.

“Well...” Mr. Hutt shook his head, “Monsters, son. Damn group just don’t like ‘em.”

It was awkwardly quiet after that. Papyrus helped you to your feet and mentioned something about taking you home, walking to the door. Sans shook Mr. Hutt’s hand and thanked him.

“No need to thank me, son. (Name)s’ fathers been one of my closest friends since high school!” The man gave a sad smile but it faded.

“Sir,” The skeleton sighed, “That James fella-“

“I know what he’s about.” 

“Y-You do?”

“This town likes to pretend nothin’ goes on but we all know.” Mr. Hutt explained, “He’s not gettin’ a cent from me. Hell my sons dating a monster, some those lil’ rascals might be running my store!” 

Sans gave a smile to the old man. He wished him a good day and made his way out of the store. As he reached the car he mentally cursed himself. It was still in the same place, still on after his rescue escapade. The skeleton was embarrassed for his actions, especially knowing it was over what seemed to be nothing. To an extent, it might’ve been just that but Sans knew better. This James character wasn’t to be overlooked.   
Sans got in the drivers seat and gave a pitiful look to his brother and then to you. He tapped on the steering wheel, trying to think of what to do. He needed to talk to Papyrus. Alone. Yet he didn’t want to leave you unguarded. Sans snapped his fingers when an idea popped into his skull, a kill two birds with one stone idea! The skeleton began driving to your apartment, it didn’t take long to get there. Papyrus offered to walk you up but you declined. You thanked them and rushed behind the gates, disappearing into the building. You felt terrible for making a big deal out of literally nothing! You rubbed your eyes as you reached the door to your apartment. Keys shook in your hand until you finally were able to get it inside the lock and open the door. You entered and quickly locked it behind you. The lights were off, no moaning or music was coming from your roommates side of the apartment so you assumed she was gone.  
You flicked on the kitchen lights and sat on the floor, leaning up against a cabinet. Since you were here... You reached into your secret hiding spot for alcohol and pulled out a random bottle. Vodka. Sounds about right for the type of day you were having. You unscrew the top and begin chugging the burning liquid. You cough and clear your throat, letting the disgusting taste linger on your tongue. Mobs were normal in this town. You hated it but it wasn’t going to change. A mafia killed your brother, whisked friends and family away to join it so whenever you had an encounter that was too close for comfort you panicked. Apparently panicking was your coping mechanism. Or maybe survival instincts, who cares, everything was a wonderful mess right now thanks to this.. terrible drink. In fact you felt sick from drinking it to fast. You let yourself slide onto your back, thanking the floor for being so cold.

“(Name)?” The door opened and in came your roommate, Roxy. 

“On the floor.” You called back, turning your head slightly so you could see her stumble into the kitchen. She laughed and clumsily knelt down to get closer to you.

“What’re you doin’ on za floor?” She slurred.

“Is it time for shots!” Her boyfriend entered the kitchen as well, snagging the vodka bottle and taking a swig.   
The two were natural party animals but both very human. Roxy was kind, slightly overbearing when intoxicated but overall a good friend. You’d known her since high school but only became close during senior year. When the topic of her wanting to move out of her parents house came up, you hopped on the bandwagon and chose a crappy little apartment in a very bad part of town. Then the skeleton brothers came into your life. You were making significantly more money than you used to and were able to afford this nice apartment complex. Roxy didn’t make enough to half the price with you but you refused to leave her alone. That loyal quality in you was a very nice feature, wasn’t it? 

“No, Brad,” You spat his name and reached for the bottle, “Is time to be sad.”

You didn’t like Brad. Roxy didn’t like Sans or Papyrus so this was fair to you.

“Why shad, (Nickname)?” Roxy made a pouty face and squished your cheeks together. 

“I had a bad day.” You sat up and took a sip from the bottle, scrunching your nose again at the taste.

“You should come to the club with us!” Brad suggested.

“We jus’ came back from the th’ club, dumb butt, you got us kicked out!” Roxy rolled her eyes.

“Oh yeah,” The man laughed, “I punched a guy in the face.”

“Charming.” You gave your roommate a look, she smiled and waved her hand at you. Roxy stood up and pushed her boyfriend out of the kitchen to her room. You didn’t want to stick around for this part so you took your cigarettes and poured the rest of the vodka into a coffee mug. You found some juice and mixed it into the mug to look less suspicious.  
The smoking areas were scattered around the complex. When you went to light a match you realized your hands were still shaking from earlier. Were you overreacting? Nothing happened to you, no injuries or threats or anything! You sighed and just stared at the cigarette in your hand. You really wanted to quit these things, for Papyrus. You weren’t addicted but every time you got stressed it was the only thing that assisted in helping you calm down. As you tucked the cigarette into its original pack, you made a promise to save these for emergencies only. For Papyrus, you thought with a blush.

As you poured out your terrible beverage, you wondered what he was up to right now. 

Papyrus and Sans currently sat in their warehouse, talking amongst the noises that surrounded them. Various monsters were packing weapons into crates, making boxes look inconspicuous or dragging lumpy bags to a truck. They’d just finished a heist, obviously it went well. Sans probably shouldn’t have meddled in that old mans business but they were underway to sending a warning gift to James.

“This is risky, Sans.” Papyrus said, tapping his pen against the table.

“Our entire business is risky.” Sans teased. His brother shook his head and set his pen down. 

“What if this James human doesn’t respond well to your present?” 

“That human has about 50 other humans working for him. One of the smallest mobs in this town.” Sans replied. He had done his homework, this wasn’t some quick revenge scheme to make up for his erratic behavior earlier today.

“Yet he is one of the most dangerous ones we’ve yet to encounter. That human from last week hired him to send us a message.”

Papyrus was making sense but Sans mind was made up. James was handed down the lead position of that mob, he was shielded from everything up until the moment he had to take over. He had no idea what he was doing, more than likely there was someone using him as a puppet. James was merely a face being used to do someone else’s dirty work. He was nothing but a pawn in a greater scheme.

“Should we be worried about the human using him?” Papyrus asked.

“Possibly,” Sans replied honestly, “But we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.”

“...And what about (Name).” 

Sans knew this question was coming. The only reason he dreaded it was because he didn’t have an answer yet. You were clueless, to an extent. Clearly you would be in danger should this James become more of a threat. One of his thugs knew you worked for them and as soon as his little present was delivered, you could possibly be in danger. From the beginning Sans told himself he was ok with people getting hurt. Death was inevitable in this line of work- monster or human, innocent or guilty, injuries, casualties it was all simply business.  
A family business. Gaster taught him and Papyrus that they were the only ones that mattered, and they lived up to that until they’d met you. From the moment you stole their hearts, you were under their protection. Sans thought the best way to do that was to keep you close, like Papyrus, always by his side or in his line of sight. Slowly he’d been realizing that couldn’t be the case, you didn’t know what you’d gotten yourself into and he would rather keep it that way. Now it seems the only way to protect you would be to send you in a different direction. The offer from the meeting with Mettaton and Alphys remained on the table.

It would stay there for now.


	6. Panic Mode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a run in with James sparks a debate with Gaster, he makes an interesting wager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> James won’t be a love interest but the skeletons will be using him to their full advantage which will soon cause more problems :O

Chapter 6

You didn’t go into work the next day. You weren’t hungover or sick, you just weren’t feeling up to the day. You debated lying to your bosses but they’d probably skip work too and invite themselves over. You stuck with the truth and said you were still a little shaken up about yesterday. Sans was strangely ok with you taking a mental health day. You offered for him to send you any work you could do over the computer but he denied. The skeleton told you to get some rest and you promised you’d try. After you hung up the phone you lied in bed and wondered what you would do all day. Usually on your days off you spend time with Papyrus and Sans, if they were free, or visit your family but you couldn’t do that bECAUSE YOU LEFT YOUR MOPED AT THE STORE!   
In a panic you pulled your hair into a messy bun, just to get it out of the way, but some strands fell to frame your face rather nicely. You grabbed a pair of black jeans and a (f/c) sweater that hung off both your shoulders and covered your hands. It was thick enough that you wouldn’t need a jacket, plus you wouldn’t be out too long. You slipped on your ballerina flats and began walking to the grocery store. You checked your bag and noticed your wallet was in there. On your walk you debated whether or not to grab groceries. For the sake of your growling tummy, you decided you would.   
You were hesitant to even approach the parking lot but people were strolling in and out of the store happily. Everything seemed normal today so you decided it was safe. Though you had your phone ready to call Sans just in case. Your sweater sleeves hiding the fact your phone was in your hand, thumb ready to hit dial. Pleased to see your moped was still secured where you’d left it yesterday, you entered the store. You briefly wondered if you depended on the skeleton brothers too much. If you had gone too far to annoy them, they certainly haven’t said anything. You did depend on them a lot, which was odd considering you only ever counted on yourself since you learned the foundations of this town. Part of you liked that you felt you could go to them for anything. It was nice to have someone as reliable as them.  
Coming to a conclusion to your thoughts also brought you to an end of your shopping trip. You’d gotten just about everything you needed! You paid and carried the two bags out in your arms. When you reached your moped you stumbled, not seeing the curb. You steadied yourself.

“Very nice save.” A smooth voice called, making you literally jump. Stars were you jumpy today. You set one grocery back down on the ground and looked to the muster voice. Your heart stopped and you felt like you were going to throw up. It was that handsome guy from yesterday. Your eyes must’ve been wide because he put his hands up in defense.

“My apologies, didn’t mean to frighten you.” He gave a nervous smile that was somewhat charming.

You opened the seat to your moped and put the grocery bags inside, closing it quickly, “N-No, it’s fine, I’m just..” No excuse. You wanted to run but needed to hold it together for just a while longer. This was no time for panic mode. He may be a mob boss but you needed to be polite if you fancied living the rest of today. 

“James.” The man extended his hand.

“(Name).” You shook it, your hand trembling terribly. 

“I’m sure you’re frightened. I-I just wanted to say sorry about yesterday.” He stammered. You started to relax, this guy almost seemed harmless. Of course you kept your guard up, wanting to leave as fast as you could. 

“Yeah. It was, uh, yeah, pretty nerve wracking.” You gave a nervous laugh.

“I don’t doubt that.” James chuckled, he seemed to be in a much better mood than yesterday, “Listen, I was hoping to make it up to you. Would breakfast be too forward?” 

You blushed. Was he actually asking you out right now? Every fiber of hatred for his lifestyle told you to say no but the intelligent part of you said it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Actually the more you thought about it, the wrong decision would be to say no to a mob boss.

“Sure.” You found yourself saying- WHAT- “Could I put these groceries away a-at home and maybe meet you somewhere?”

“How about the cafe on Brooke Street?” James charming smile returned.

“I’ll see you there.” You smiled back.

That was only two miles away from work. If things were to go south you could hide in the bathroom and call the police right? Idiot, no, you’d be dead before they arrived. Sans and Papyrus it is, ok! 

You seriously needed to stop panicking. 

Sans pulled his phone out of his pocket and smiled when he saw who was calling.

“Well, well, if you wanted to talk to me so much you could’ve come to work.” He joked. 

“Ha-ha. So, funny story, I went to grab my moped this morning.” You were talking quickly. 

Sans hummed in response.

“Got groceries and now I’m home but when I was at the store, that mob boss asked me to breakfast.”

If he had a heart, his would be stopping right now. However his soul throbbed with jealousy and worry. 

“So, hypothetically, if you were going to meet a criminal who might want to kill you, what would you wear?”

“W h a t?” Sans growled.

“If a mafia member asked you to lunch, would you say yes or rather get shot?” You retorted. Technically, you’ve been out to dinner with two mafia leaders multiple times but he kept his mouth shut regarding that.

“Where.” Sans demanded. 

“Brooke Street.” He must’ve audibly shown relief because you laughed, “Are you that worried I can’t handle myself?”

“You fainted when you saw him yesterday, (Name).” 

“I panicked! I’m being normal now so everything will be fine.~” You soothed his nerves slightly, “I’ll have you on speed dial.”

“Promise?” Sans begged. You blushed at his comment and promised, not that he could see but you crossed your heart and everything.

“I’ll call you the second I leave.” You said. Sans couldn’t say anything more, you hung up the phone. He turned to his brother, “Wanna go spy on (Name)?”

You sat outside smoking one of your emergency cigarettes to calm your nerves. Meeting with a mob boss was a good reason to smoke, right? Right, you assured yourself. James arrived and sat in the chair across from you. You noticed two men sit at the table a little ways away, nervously glancing at them.

“Just a precaution.” James said, feeling guilty about your nervous state. 

“Totally get it.” You lied. It was breakfast, what could go wrong? Panic mode read you a list of multiple things that could happen but you brushed them away.

“S-So what do you do.” James asked. Obviously the question wasn’t applicable to him so you’d have to think of another small talk inquiry. 

“I work for a pet shop company. I-I literally have the most boring part of it, I’m just the secretary for the main building.” You chuckled nervously. James hummed in response.

“W-What’s your favorite kind of pet?” You asked.

“Oh that’s easy, jaguar cubs.” You raised a brow and James burst out in laughter, “That was a joke! I love birds, I actually have a macaw.”

You giggled and asked him a few more questions about his pet. Surprisingly, the breakfast went well. James didn’t ask a lot about your branch of work like you thought he would. He struck you as a business-brunch type of man. Most of the meal was talking about common interests and then playing 20 questions. James handed the waitress his card as he sipped his coffee.

“Thank you, t-this was actually very nice.”

“Actually? Pertaining to what?” He joked. You giggled again, having caught on to his odd sense of humor, “Jokes aside, I had a nice time as well.”

James plucked his card back from the waitress’ hand and stood up. He swiftly took your hand in his and placed a gentle kiss on top of your knuckles. You blushed, not able to fathom words for his kind actions.

“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” 

“I-Is that a threat?”

James let out a heartfelt laugh and winked at you before walking to his car. You sat at the table as he drove away and couldn’t help notice an empty feeling in your stomach. This was the best meal, with an attractive human, you’d ever had yet you felt hollow. Somehow you’d feel better if this was a date with your two favorite people. Speaking of, Sans was probably having a heart attack right now. You yanked out your phone and called Sans, perking up when his ringtone went off from behind you. You angrily stood up and followed the source of the noise. Ducking behind the building were two nosey skeletons, desperately trying to silence Sans’ phone.

“I didn’t realize we were 12, resorting to spying instead of talking.” You teased with a glare plain on your face. 

“What? Spying- us?!” Papyrus stammered.

“We were worried, can you blame us?” Sans asked, almost jumping to get defensive.

“No.” You said, relaxing and placing a playful smirk on your lips. The skeletons were in shock. You’d basically just agreed with Sans, that was less than rare! 

“Do you guys wanna ditch work, come over and watch movies with me?” You asked. They both agreed and hooked arms with you. At this point, what the hell, it’s not like they did anything in the office anyways.   
Sans teleported the three of you back to your room. You pointed to your DVD collection and left the room to make popcorn. Papyrus picked a movie that peaked his interest while Sans made himself comfortable on your bed. You arrived with popcorn and (fav candy), the best movie combination ever invented! You didn’t notice but the empty feeing became filled as you cuddled up to Sans on your bed, making him blush furiously. Papyrus made a protest and climbed on your bed as well, letting you spoon him as the movie started. You gently rubbed his skull, closing your eyes and holding onto this moment.

The skeletons left 3 movies later. You all took a nap during the first one, waking up to the end scene and then credits. The second movie was partially watched but really you just talked through it and began a popcorn war. As the third movie rolled to an end Sans noticed the time and made the decision they should go.

“Will you be coming to work tomorrow, (Name)?” Papyrus asked, hugging you goodbye.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better.” You inhaled deeply and made a face, “‘Specially now that I know no one wants to kill me.”

The skeletons shared a nervous laugh with you at that statement. You sat on your bed and waved as they disappeared. Sans brought him and Papyrus to the warehouse. Odd, he wanted to go home this was unusual. They looked around to see everyone working twice as hard, screaming coming from below.

“Shut that door! I do not feel like having to deal with anymore witnesses tonight.” Gasters voice made the brothers freeze up. The lanky skeleton saw his sons and a easing smile replaced his scowl. He began stepping towards them, turning them around and placing a hand on each of their shoulders. The walked over to the table, dimly lit by a hanging light.

“Sans, I must admit, I was shocked to hear of today’s events. You were right about that human.” Gaster said calmy. His look of confusion begged for an explanation.

“If there’s one thing humans loathe it’s a rat.” Gaster gestured to the door that lead to the interrogation basement, “However, I have plenty of them reporting for me out of a... shared interest.”

Papyrus knew what that meant. Multiple people, monsters and humans alike from mobs all around would report anything and everything to his father. However they weren’t head mafia leaders willingly giving information, so they were referred to as rats. No one in their mob dared to even think of becoming a rat, not after what Gaster did when he found a handful of them. Sans knew all this information as well but he still looked confused.

“So, I was told your human went on a ‘date’ to get information out of a mafia leader.” Gaster quirked a brow bone, “James is rather interested in her, he was about as useful as an open book. Pray tell, what did she acquire?”

“I-It wasn’t a date, there was a mishap yesterday.” Papyrus explained, “The human was trying to apologize to (Name).”

Gasters smile faded to a look indifference, “In this case, the information I’ve gathered pertains to a bigger problem.”

“How’s that?” Sans asked hoarsely.

“This ‘James’ is under the impression your human knows everything about the business. That means she’s a possible liability.” Gaster was clearly annoyed now.

“I already told you she doesn’t know shit!” Sans growled.

“I had hoped you would have had the sense to tell her before she tangles herself into something she cannot unweave from.” Gaster stood up, looming over his son.

“Solution.” Papyrus slammed his hands on the table, standing up as well and gaining the attention of the two other skeletons, “I may have a solution.” 

Gaster sat back down in his chair and motioned for his son to continue. Sans crossed his arms and relaxed as well, leaning his chair on two legs.

“So long as James is interested in (Name) we can use that to our advantage.” Papyrus hated where his idea was going but it could keep you safe and still under their protection.

“How exactly do we do that?” Sans dead panned, “(Name) doesn’t know what this, if we asked her to do this she’d immediately become suspicious.” 

“It doesn’t have to be her in person.” Papyrus tossed his phone onto the table.

“While James is distracted by her charms, the child seems rather dull, I suppose this could operate well.” Gaster commented, still thinking this over.

Papyrus and Sans gave nervous glances to eachother while their father looked for any type of hole that could ruin this plan. Faster set his hands in his lap and gave a serious look to his sons. The indifference was gone, a devilish smirk rested on his face.

“I will approve this plan of yours, Papyrus, under two conditions.” Gaster said.

Sans was about to interject but his father motioned for him to be silent, this was Papyrus’s idea so it would be his choice. Normally the way conditions worked was you would hear them, then decide whether or not to agree with them. Gaster proffered it his way, as usual, you would accept the conditions before hearing them. Papyrus thought for a moment then nodded. 

“My first condition,” The smirk widened, “I wish to meet this (Name). No later than a week from this day.”

Papyrus nodded and Sans held back a groan. He should have seen that coming. 

“My second condition,” The smirk all but vanished, “If this plan is to fail, we begin to execute things my way.”

His words were dripping with poison. Gaster enjoyed an entertaining battle but the moment it dragged on too long for his amusement, he had a plan that would abolish his opponent. Normally those plans resulted in a lot of casualties, no one survived on the opposite side and the skeletons remained on top of the food chain. As it should be. Having already accepted the terms and conditions, Papyrus had no choice but to make certain this plan wouldn’t fail. At this point he could care less about his fathers disappointment, it would fade should he get his way. This was about keeping you under their protection and no one would do a better job than the skeleton brothers.


	7. Offers to Consider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get a call from James who seems to be stirring up trouble, much to Gaster’s enjoyment. Though Sans and Papyrus seem to be losing their own battle..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i found out IM RELATED TO AN ACTUAL MAFIA LEADER?! thanks for telling me this, my italian mother ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ i feel a much more intense attachment to this story now 
> 
> aha anyways enjoy! sorry it’s so short i just felt a cliffhanger was in place cause things are about to get much more interestinggg~

Chapter 7

 

Things have been all but peaceful today. The office seemed to be in a full fledged war to keep you from doing you job. Papyrus and Sans disappeared, which was normal, but you could use their power right about now. When they were in the building, all chaos seemed to cease which is what you needed. You used your authority to the max, yelling and threatening jobs. People took you serious when you got like this, the skeletons would back you up on just about anything! Finally when order was restored, you sat at your desk to get some work of your own done. The moment you sat down you noticed your computer was logged into Sans private email account, quickly you logged out and entered your own. That was odd, he hadn’t been in all day and it wasn’t likely he used your computer in your absence yesterday. You brushed the thought away and got to work, tapping away at your computer. The phone rang a few times, it was questions from lower floors, a transferred call or wrong number. Then you received an interesting caller.

“Thank you for calling, this is (Name), how can I help you.” Your voice was forced to a pitch higher to sound more pleasant.

“It’s James.” The caller identified himself, making you blush.

“James? How did ya know I worked- Never mind that’s a stupid question, w-what can I help you with?” You laughed in disbelief. 

“I wanted to hear your voice again.” James replied, you could practically see the charming smile on his face. Your smile fell, this was getting overwhelming. Your heart already belonged to someone... Two someone’s, actually. There wasn’t room for anyone else, romantically, even if the skeletons wouldn’t have you. Plus this guy was a leader of a mob and you still didn’t handle that well. 

“Sorry, I-I’m at work, did you-“ 

“Actually, there’s another reason I called.” James said quickly.

“Oh?”

“I wanted to have a word with your employers.”

Your heart stopped. This definitely wasn’t a friendly, business call. James hated monsters he had to have an alternative motive.

“They’re actually not in right now.” You said, “I have no idea when they’ll be back but can you leave a number for them to call?” You asked.

James happily gave you the number.

“I hope to see you soon.” He purred on the other end. 

You rolled your eyes, “Goodbye, James.” and hung up the phone.

When you turned your attention back to the computer screen, you noticed a figure looming over you.

“Oh, gosh, sir I’m so sorry- I didn’t notice you!” You apologized, blushing from embarrassment.

“No need to fret, my dear, I do have that affect.” You looked up and saw he was a skeleton. Handsome for an older monster, he actually looked somewhat familiar. Was that racist to say? He had two black marks above and below one eye socket. He had a pitch black suit and a cane with a solid gold handle. This skeleton seemed threatening yet kind, you flashed a polite smile up at him,

“Well, I’m (Name), at your service! How can I help you?”

“I am W.D. Gaster... And I’m so glad you asked.”

Sans and Papyrus has been sent on pointless journeys all day. Their father made them do the pettiest of tasks but as the two completed them, it seemed necessary for tonight’s heist. It was probably way after noon by the time they finished everything to the last detail. The skeletons returned to the warehouse to alert Gaster of their completed errands, only to find he wasn’t there.  
Sans growled, frustrated with being toyed with all day. He turned to a monster that was loading a truck, “Where’d the boss go?” 

The monster jumped at his voice, “S-Said he went to look at your building while he waited for you.”

Of course. Gaster would go right over their heads, like he always did, to see if Sans was running everything ok. In actuality, Gaster just wanted to see you without his sons listening in. He had full confidence his older son was doing a fine job alone in the family business. Though the last two weeks it didn’t seem like it, Gaster was rather proud of his two sons. You seemed to be an inconvenience at first but slowly he realized how helpful you were to their disguise. Perhaps he had misjudged you, which was abnormal since everything Gaster did was flawless.

“Sans.” Papyrus drew his brothers attention to a human being dragged down to the basement. The human was putting up a fight, blindfolded and wrists died behind his back. The skeletons rushed over to assist the monsters holding the human. Papyrus, being the last one over, pulled arm back and shot his first forward, breaking the humans nose. The man cried out in pain and stopped struggling after that, clearly now focused on his bloody nose. The monsters thanked their bosses and took control back from there.  
Papyrus wiped his boney knuckles free from any trace of blood, not bothering to check his suit. Sans motioned for his brother to follow, heading towards the car.  
Ever since Gaster left Undergound and came to check on his protégées, the brothers have had a very rude awakening. Sans and Papyrus have, apparently, been wasting their time with you and not focusing enough on the mafia business. The older skeleton wasn’t sure why his father was being so harsh about their choices, everything Gaster had asked them to do got done! Only recently had everything started to slip through the cracks- And for them to slip, they had to be really small! Maybe this was all to teach Papyrus and Sans a lesson. A lesson they’ve continuously been taught since they were aware of the life surrounding them. There were about 10 legitiment mobster rules, one that wasn’t included in the list regarded personal lives.

You don’t keep secrets from family, but you better keep secrets from enemies.

Sans soul twinged with horror when he realized he’d broken both of those rules. He could care less about whether or not his father knew, Gaster found everything out eventually, but you! His mind was flooded with an entire new perspective which lead to an epiphany;

1\. You were about as close as family and were kept in the dark about.. well, everything!  
2\. Sans wanted you to be family, in your human ritual way of matrimony- soulmates, anything resembling that!  
3\. He needed to be honest with Papyrus, Gaster but also himself. Sans had been denying his feelings for so long he didn’t realize the danger he’d put you in.  
4\. Speaking of danger, you’d still be incredibly at risk should Sans decide to make you his offer. 

Time to get out of your head, Sans, the skeleton told himself. A headache began to cree up to him as he realized he had a lot to consider. His eye sockets drifted to his younger brother... A conversation was definitely in order.  
Sans didn’t know how but they’d arrived in front of the building sometime during his thought process. Papyrus was playing a game on his phone, not wanting to disturb his brother. When the shorter skeleton got out first, he made his way to the elevator immediately. Papyrus followed behind, giving his brother a nervous look. He couldn’t have known but Sans was simply eager to lay his feelings out on the table and discuss Papyrus’ emotions as well. Sans was almost certain his brother felt the same way about you. The exact same emotion that would put the three of you in a uncomfortably dangerous position. It should all be worth it if.. if you’d accept.  
The moment the elevator reached the top floor, you practically sprinted towards the skeletons. The look on your face made them freeze, you looked terrified!

“There you are!” You snapped and began fussing with Sans suit, something you only did when someone important was visiting. 

“What’s goin’ on, doll?” Sans replied, trying to remain calm.

“Your father is here.” You began fidgeting with Papyrus’ suit, he remained still for you- unlike Sans who liked to wrinkle your work. However your words, Papyrus twitched making you sigh.

“He asked me where you were, I told him I had no idea- which reminds me you..” Your voice trailed off when you noticed sometime on Papyrus’ sleeve, “Pap, a-are you bleeding?”

Immediately you looked up to inspect him, your eyes filled with worry. Sans inhaled a shaky breath, keeping his toothy smile on but nervous beads of sweat began to form on top of his skull. Papyrus calmly took your hands in his and moved them off his suit, “I’m fine. Someone had a bloody nose at a meeting and got some on me, accidentally.” He looked to his brother, “Let’s go.”

You stared in shock at how heartless they both were acting. As they slipped into Sans’ office you realized how embarrassed you should be. Monsters don’t bleed, they turn into dust, only humans bleed.

 

“It appears your plan will not get an opportunity to be carried out.” Gaster said, once again sitting behind Sans’ desk. The two skeletons sat in the chairs in front, watching their fathers expression turn disappointed. That could only mean it wasn’t with Gaster’s intentions that this happened.

“Why?” Papyrus sighed.

Gaster said nothing, merely set his phone on speaker and began to play a recording.

‘I don’t care what it takes, just pay those fucking monsters to do what the boss says!’ It was James voice screaming at someone, ‘He wants the girl as alive and clueless as she is now!’ 

Their father stopped the recording and looked to his sons. Sans tapped his foot impatiently. 

“What does this mean?” Papyrus asked angrily, visibly seething. 

“James is not the boss of that gang, as I suspected, he is but a figure head,” Gaster explained, “Your plan will not work because he is not interested in your human.”

“So what now?” Sans interrupted, clenching his claws around the chair arm.

“James has an offer to make. (Name) left the number for you to call.”

“And what of your conditions? I have failed my part in this plan execution.” Papyrus stared at the floor. Gaster moves around the desk hastily and places a hand on his sons shoulder.

“You have not failed. This information was brought to me while you two were preparing for tonight.” He says in a comforting tone before moving his hands behind his back as usual, “However, I have contrived an idea of my own to further benefit us.”

“What would that be...?”


	8. New Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster gets more information of you and gains a new perspective of how he sees you.

Chapter 8

As you stared at the door, your heartbeat began to pick up.

Only humans can bleed. Only humans.

Why were Sans and Papyrus with humans? Out of the entire time you’d done business with them, they had every human go through you. It wasn’t discriminatory, they just, said humans were probably more comfortable talking to each other than a monster. So why did they only now decide to discuss something with a human? You knew their daily schedule, there wasn’t even a meeting today you knew of! Your heart was pounding against your chest like it was trying to pop out and tell you that something didn’t feel right.   
You looked at the clock and decided you wanted to go home. Not to your apartment, you wanted to be at your childhood home- with your parents. Angrily, you wrote a passive note, left it on your desk and quickly entered the elevator with your bag. 

Gaster didn’t maliciously smirk like he usually did to when winning at his own game. Instead, he sat on the desk in front of his sons and sighed.

“I’ve gathered enough information to deduct that whomever James is working for, knows (Name) personally, though, she may not reciprocate.” The lanky skeleton started, “It seems as though all this being wants is for her not to work here. After all the conflict is that she is knowledgeable of anything that should go on here.”

“So we have to fire her?” Sans asked. 

“My offer between Dr Alphys and you still stands, does it not?” Gaster asked.

No response. 

“I will presume it does.” He growled, “You simply need to transfer the human’s position to that robot of hers.”

“So she’d be Mettatons’ assistant.” Papyrus concluded, his father nodding to that statement.

“Then what?” Sans asked.

Gaster remained silent. That was all there was to his plan, remove the issue and business shall continue on.

“How does this benefit us?” Sans asked, narrowing his eye sockets.

“Your human will be safe, no more further conflict with a rival gang and the family business will prosper as it should.” Gaster snapped back.

Neither Sans nor Papyrus could explain why they felt the way they did. Their father was a monster of logic, he wouldn’t understand regardless if they tried or not. Either which way, Gaster had won. He was always one move ahead in his game and even before Papyrus got a chance to try, his father had gotten what he ultimately wanted. You were out of the way so there’d be no more needless distractions or slip ups in his booming “business”. In a way, Gaster had a one track mind. Sure his brilliant intellect could branch off two every possible scenario to weed out the best option for him, but his ultimate goal was simple. The skeleton mafia remains on top of the food chain. Currently they were settled comfortably in luxury at the peak but they would have to keep their guard up to stay there.

You were a distraction.

Not an asset.

Gaster looked to his sons, puzzled why they acted so distraught. He moved his gaze to a clock, 4pm, everyone would be leaving soon. Their heist preparations would begin in two hours, perhaps that’s what was on their minds. The lanky skeleton excused himself from the room and made his way over to your desk. He saw the sticky note left obviously on your computer screen and crumpled it into his fist, moving his hands behind his back casually. At that moment his sons left the office and turned to Gaster, waiting for instructions. 

“You two will run the heist.” Gaster said softly enough so no one near could fathom his words, “Go.”

Sans and Papyrus’ eye sockets widened a bit. Their father, who planned this elaborate job, and need his phalanges in all the cups of tea wasn’t going with them?! Sans tried not to give a suspicious glance, just turned towards the elevator with his brother.  
Once the skeletons were out of sight, Gaster began walking to the end of the hallway. Monsters poured out of the building and began turning off the lights, not noticing the skeleton hidden in the shadows. Gaster looked at the note you’d left behind and focused on it. The walls around him morphed as he vanished from the building and then found himself outside. He opened his eye sockets further to notice he was standing in front of a one story house on a cul-de-sac. The skeleton warily stepped towards the house, ringing the doorbell.

“I’ll get it for you, mom.” Your sweet voice called, muffled behind the door. 

The front door swung open slowly and you gave Gaster a look of pure confusion instead of anger, which he was expecting.

“Hey, Mr. Gaster, what’s up?” You laughed, not really sure what to say or how to speak to him outside work. Yet you remained as polite as ever, making the skeleton smile.

“I apologize for intruding on your evening,” Gaster was sincere about that, “If it wouldn’t pose too much of an issue, could we have a moment to speak?”

You moved away from the door so Gaster could step inside, which shocked him once again. Your actions are odd, unpredicted and yet satisfying to him. Gaster hesitantly stepped inside, a big, male human stopped in his tracks when seeing him.

“Well hello there, neighbor!” The man gave a huge smile, extending his arm to shake Gaster’s hand. The monster shook his hand but said nothing.

“No, dad, he ain’t a neighbor,” Your slang was another shocker, “This is Gaster, my bosses dad.”

“Ah, another dad in the house.” Your dad joked, making you hide your face in embarrassment.

“No, no dad jokes. We’re going to talk out back.” You told him, motioning for Gaster to follow you through the kitchen.   
Your dad gently patted Gaster on the shoulder with a laugh that shook the house. When he entered the kitchen, a smaller, female human was dancing around in front of the stove.

“That’s my mom.” You said, equally as embarrassed as before. 

Your mom turned around and gave a big, warm smile, “You GOTTA be related to the infamous Sans an’ Papyrus!” she exclaimed.

“You know my sons?” Gaster tilted his head.

“Of course! They’ve only been ova twice for dinner but my little (Name) can’t shattap ‘bout ‘em!” Your mom tried to pinch your cheeks, which were burning red. Gaster noted your accent/ slang came from your mother.  
The skeleton politely nodded to her once more, following you out the back door. Your backyard was small and simple, grassy area with a few children toys laying out. He’d expected this from the area your parents lived in but he was definitely shocked to see a big dog run around the corner. You were just full of surprises today. 

“Ya ok with dogs or should I let him inside?” You asked, grabbing the fluffy creature by the collar before she could lick your guest.

“It.. It is fine.” Gaster’s hand almost shook as it reached over to pet your dog. Immediately she settled down and relaxed further as his phalanges rubbed her head. You laughed at her and sat on a bench out of view of the screen door. Gaster joined you, watching as you pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

“O-oh, sorry, do you mind?” You looked to him with worry.

“I do not. Carry on.” Gaster said, still petting the dog that followed him over to the bench.

“Y’know, Papyrus hates it when I smoke.” You chuckle sadly, staring at the floor.

“He must care a great deal for you then.” Gaster sat up straight as he said the words out loud. Papyrus only criticized monsters he adored for smoking, not wanting them so shorten their lifespan.

“Yeah, they both have a.. unique way of caring, huh?” You smiled, looking up, “Anyways, what did you wanna talk about?”

Gaster sighed, “Something is troubling me. For once I cannot figure it out on my own. It is unreasonable.”

“What’s buggin’ ya?”

“It is you.”

That’s a new one. Sure you could be annoying, overbearing when you were a bit too passionate about something but this was.. different?

“That is to say, your affect on my sons.” Gaster admitted, “I do not know why they do the things they do but you’re apart of the reason.”

You blushed, staring at the floor as you smoked. 

“You’re nervous. I can sense it.” He commented.

“I-I.” Tears welled up in your eyes. The overwhelming sense of joy, anger and sadness had rushed over you at once.

“I think I know what’s going on. I-I think I always knew I just didn’t want to be right!” Tears slowly poured out of your eyes, “For once I never wanted to be so wrong.”

“So you truly didn’t know.” Gaster posed his question as a statement, sinking further into his thoughts. He snapped out of them as you sniffed and wipes the tears off your cheeks.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m just overwhelmed.” You wipes your eyes more but tears continued to fall.

“Elaborate if you wish.” Gaster said, genuinely interested.

“Th-The skeletons have been my friends for, like, what? 4 years now?” You asked nobody in particular, “So they’ve been lying to be a-about... Y’know. I should be mad, a-and I am, but I’m happy!?  
I know they did it to keep me safe but I also wonder if it’s ‘cause thy didn’t trust me. T-They know I hate gangs, I-I mean my brother..” 

Gaster looked to you with curiosity.

You two found yourselves inside your home once again, in the living room this time. You pulled down a picture of your brother from above the fire place.

“Was a shame.” Your father said sadly. 

“What happened, if I may ask..” Gaster trailed off, slowly realizing it may be a touchy subject. This was not the time to become so enthralled in something he would be accidentally rude.

“He was shot...” Your mother said, entering the living room. 

“His friend thought it’d be a good idea to join a gang to ‘protect’ us from monsters.” You said disgusted. 

“Their day out ‘patrollin’’, tryin’ ta be some vigilantes, a monster shot ‘em.” Your mother said.   
Gaster’s world almost came crushing down. A monster had killed your brother- their son! Yet had absolutely no hatred towards monsters. 

“Can see the look on your face, pal,” Your father patted Gaster’s back lightly, this time, “Ain’t got a thing against monsters.”

“Gosh no!” Your mother gasped, “It was the gangs that corrupted him, ain’t no ones fault after that.”

“More like his fault.” You growled.

“(Name), we’re not starting this now.” Your father hushed you politely.

You sighed and gave a sad look to your mother. She was the one who took the toll hardest. Her first born, gone before his life could begin. However your thoughts and emotions remained, he was your brother but this was his own fault. He was racist, manipulative and cruel! He sealed his fate the moment he refused to listen to anyone of his family members. Your brother convinced a neighbor friend to join him in his initiation to a gang and off they went. The only reason you mourned was because of your mother, the heartbreak she endured was, well, heartbreaking. Gaster sat the picture of your brother back where it rested before, a grey scarf surrounding it.

“They neva got the body,” Your mom said sadly, “Gave us this, though. The scarf I made ‘im that Christmas.” Your mother began tearing up, though had a smile on her face as she placed a kiss to her finger and pressed it onto the picture. 

Soon you and Gaster had migrated out to the front door, your parents still inviting him back after you closed the door behind you.

“Sorry ‘bout all that.” You said, embarrassed for multiple reasons.

“This was enlightening. There is nothing to apologize for.” Gaster have you a friendly smile. You returned it and launched yourself forward, wrapping your arms around the skeleton.  
Gaster froze for a moment before allowing himself to relax and return the gesture. He hadn’t had a hug since his sons were little, always tangling themselves on his legs as he was about to leave. 

“My child.” Gaster’s tone was serious but pleading, you pulled away to look up at him. Both his hands were on your shoulder as his eye sockets focused on you. “What are my sons to you?”

“I-I love them.” You blurted out, blushing.

For the first time today, Gaster wasn’t surprised. 

“Should we go down this path, we must discuss a few important notes.” Gaster offered his hand to you.

You looked towards your parents house as if it would be the last time you got to see it. Then your narrowed your eyes and turned back around, taking Gaster’s hand.


	9. Panic Mode Disengaged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster has another serious chat with you and a new threat is introcudced.

Chapter 9

Papyrus and Sans awkwardly sat across from each other at the table in the warehouse. The heist was completed and a success. Before anything began, as the skeletons sat inside Papyrus looked to his brother.

“I have a bad feeling somewhere inside me.” Papyrus began, “I-If I do not make it-“

“Bro, don’t talk like that, everything’s gonna be-“ Sans started to sweat nervously.

“No. If I do not make it, tell (Name) I love her.” Was all Papyrus could say before the battle began. Gunshots firing in both directions.

 

Now the skeletons sat in uncomfortable silence. 

“Love, huh?” Sans said something at last, a nervous grin on his skull.

“I believe it is, brother.” Papyrus admitted, an orange blush rising to his cheek bones.

“I-I was actually gonna tell ya something similar but nows a good time as any.” Sans sighed, “I feel the same way. About (Name).”

“So that day in your office-“

“No, I wasn’t lyin’, I just wasn’t sure...” Sans trailed off.

“So what do we do?” Papyrus asked.

“Why’re ya askin’ me?” Sans chuckled.

“My brilliant brother always has a plan.”

The two laughed and moved to sit closer together.

“We’d hafta start off by telling her the truth.” Sans sighed, dreading that part the most, “Then after, tell her how we feel.”

“How do you feel? Right now?” Papyrus fiddled with his shirt, blushing.

“Like I wanna throw up.” Sans laughed.

“I am... scared.” Papyrus admitted, “What if she rejects us?”

“Then we don’t move on to phase 2.” Sans said.

“What would that be?” 

“Marking her.” 

Papyrus nearly fell out of the chair at that comment. How could his brother say that so causally?! He was thinking something along the lines of discussing the functions of their relationship not jumping straight into things! However he rather did like the idea of marking you. Thinking about the first of many intimate acts to commit with you, Papyrus felt himself blushing more and more.  
It was totally possible that Sans had the right idea. Though as soon as they marked you, it was also possible that you could be at risk. Humans can’t see the marks but should one ever get close enough to a monster to find out whom the mark came from, you could be in danger. At this point, Papyrus was so frustrated that everything was a danger to you, he almost wanted to swear! Perhaps things could be clearer if they were to talk with you. Sans had great ideas but this was a discussion that you needed to be included in.

“I like your first idea, brother, let us start there.” Papyrus declared, standing up to walk towards the door.

“Uh, bro?”

“Yes?” 

“We should probably see where (Name) is before we wonder around.” 

Papyrus stopped in his tracks as Sans started laughing, turning to glare at his brother.

Well where were you? 

Gaster brought the two of you to an empty park. You felt incredibly dizzy, Gasters’ ‘shortcuts’ were much more intense then Sans’. A bench sat a little ways away, lit up by a street lamp. You followed as he walked towards the bench and placed himself there. You sat next to Gaster and said nothing. You didn’t know where to begin. 

“I’m almost certain by now my sons are discussing your future with them as well.” He said.

“My future?” You repeated with a blush.

“This life is one they are used to. You’ve been shielded from it, they are most likely thinking of how to keep it that way. I am slightly envious of your ability to be so naive.”

You wanted to be offended but you knew it wasn’t his intention. It was a fact, you had no clue of the life they lead. 

“What does that mean for me?” You asked.

“Should you accept the offer they propose to you, conditions or not, you will be brought into this ruthless life. Danger is inevitable for you.”

“Conditions?”

“The relationship would be one of your own. You, of course, have a say in how you prefer it.”

“Is normal a possibility?” You jokes

Gaster cracks a smile at that, “What is normal, exactly, my child?” 

He had you there. Normal was different for everyone, a sense of something familiar they could grasp to. You didn’t need normal but you could think of a few other things you’d like.

“You are in deep thought.” Gaster comments, making you nod.

“I’m making up my conditions, I think?” You chuckle, able to make light of the distinction at last, “I have a few questions...?”

“I will answer them all to your satisfaction.” He replies.

You began immediately, spilling every question you had without waiting for an answer. Then you narrowed your eyes and turned to Gaster.

“Why are you helping me?” You asked.

“Now that would be the only complicated question you asked.” He replies with a dark chuckle.

“Really?“ You knew it wasn’t the time to joke but you could absolutely bring up the fact of how sex would work with his sons. You were almost tempted enough to ask if they had genitals or if it was all bones down there. 

“(Name),” Gaster stops pondering, having an answer for you, “The pride I carry for this business bears its toll. I am afraid I have let the life of the mafia strip my sons of something they’ve constantly craved.”

You wanted to guess a father.

“Love.” He said, as if reading your mind. Your heart stopped when he heard that.

“I do not have regrets and I do not make mistakes.” Gaster starts again, there’s that pride he was talking about, “Everything I have done was for the greater good! For my family and my business.”

“You’re losin’ me.” You admit.

Gaster lets out a laugh, “What I mean to say is that I... I cherish my sons. If you can give them something I never can, I would do anything to assist in that.”

So this guy has a heart after all- Technically speaking, you knew monsters didn’t have hearts, only souls. You briefly wondered what his soul trait would be. Then you wondered what yours was! Oh stars have Sans and Papyrus seen your soul already?! You felt embarrassed and violated but Gaster pulled you from your thoughts.

“Any other inquiries that I may assist you with?” The skeleton offered.

“A-A few.” You admit, “If I date your sons, does that mean I’ll have to join your... ‘business’?” 

“Not necessarily. You will be.. close with two, strong mafia leaders who control over half your town; it will come with rules and regulations to an extent.” His voice became serious, “However, if I know my sons, they would not want you to be apart of the gruesome messes to come.”

“Alright, sounds fair. What’re the rules?”

Gaster began to ponder again, “The equivalent human role of a mafia leader’s mate would be the wife, correct?”

“Yeah?”

“In such a case you will be subjected to join casual family affairs, meetings if you so choose and-“

“Wait! Do I have to MARRY Sans and Papyrus?!”

“Stars, child, no! Monsters do not have ‘marriage’” He spat the word, “We have soulmates.”

Why was that not comforting?

“A soulmate?” You repeated.

“When they feel the time is best, Sans and Papyrus will each bestow a mark onto your body. This symbolizes your adoration and seals your relations.” 

“So it’s like a tattoo only more serious than it already was.” You sighed to yourself, trying not to panic.

“Child, soulmates are not nearly as intense as soul bonding.” Gaster laughed like he made a good joke.

“Soul bonding, great, sounds even MORE serious.” You force a laugh.

“Do not be nervous,” Gaster said calmly, “Souls bonding is the most intimate act soulmates can do together, it will only work properly if both monsters crave it.”

“So...” You thought, “No human has ever been bonded, that way, with a monster?”

“Not to my knowledge. Your kind has only recently begun to accept us, hardly interested in courtship. I do not blame them though, so much more can be done without a mate of any kind.”

You ignored Gaster’s comment and put a hand over your heart. Even though you were just about to head into panic mode, your soul ached at the thought of not being that intimate with Sans or Papyrus. You wanted to be as close to them as possible and the slight note you might not be able to soul bond made you sad.

“My dear, if I may, I do have a question for you.” Gaster spoke up.

“Oh, of course.” 

“What is your knowledge of James?”

“He’s obviously a mobster.” You rolled your eyes, “He ain’t a fan of monsters- or at least his gang isn’t.”

“How can you be sure?”

“The badges they all wear, to show what gang their in. I’ve neva seen James specifically, until recently, but that badge symbol is graffitied places, some stores even have to hang up signs with it.”

The stores that had it were human-only establishments and you refused to take your business there. Some places were forced into it but you couldn’t remotely support that awful ideology. You tried to explain what the symbol looked like. It was a green X with a yellow, upside down frowning face on it. The yellow face had horns and sharp teeth. It was a childish drawing but the message was clear.

“Hey, uh, Gaster?” You wrapped your arms around yourself, the night was getting colder. 

“Yes?”

“I know ya didn’t just come over to my house to get to know me, n’ help me date your sons.” 

“Ah...” He trailed off.

“What’s the real reason ya came over?” 

“Truthfully, I arrived in front of your residence to offer you a deal.”

“What? Why? What kind of deal?”

“I was going to threaten you to stay away from my sons. Then, as usual, make the offer more enticing by bribing you.”

“That sounds like a one way deal.” 

“You get to live, how is that a one way deal!?” Gaster was shocked, his offers have never been offended nor declined before. 

“What would be in it for you?”

“You wouldn’t be a distraction to my sons anymore.” 

You sat up straight, “Did something happen? Did I make something go wrong?!”

“No, no.” Gaster waved away your fears, “Sans was, to put it simply, gaining a conscious again. Papyrus was just daydreaming more than usual.”

“So no one died ‘cause a me?” You smiled, now knowing you’d done nothing wrong.

“No, your hands are free of blood.” Gaster smiled at you but it faded.   
“I must confess, I believe I-I have made an error. I was quick to judge you, which was unfair on my behalf.”

“You knew about me?”

“I knew you were the accountant, it was my assumption you were a monster. I have Sans too much credibility in the moment-“

“You trusted Sans to not hire a human.. Someone you could trust too.” You said, trying not to sound hurt.

“It is nothing in your control, though... And if it makes you feel better, I am no longer suspicious of you.” Gaster puts a hand on your shoulder. 

“That does make me feel better.” You smile at him.

Gaster offers you his other hand and teleports you both elsewhere.  
Watching you from afar were four dark figures, hidden from the light. When you and the skeleton disappeared, the figures went into a panic. They slowly made their way back towards their own hideout, nervous for what was in store.

“What’s the report?” A gruff voice barked.

“S-Sir, the girl you asked us to find was in a park with a skeleton.” One said.

“Not the ones we’ve seen before! Sir!” Another voice added.

“They have not returned our call, either.” James looked to the man demanding the report, calmer then the other men. 

“Damnit, (Name)! What spell d’those dirty fuckin’ monsters have on ya!” The voice punched a wall, making the room shake.

“Beat it.” James jabbed a thumb to the door and the four men scrambled to get out, “I do have another approach, boss.” 

“Tol’ja it’s too risky.” He growled. 

James smirked as his boss wasn’t facing him, “Those skeletons are quite taken with her.”

“Watch yer fuckin’ mouth.” 

“I only mean to suggest operation B.” 

“Plan B? Thought that was for emergencies.” 

“I believe a sister falling for a beast can qualify as an emergency.” 

The man smirked, turning to James, “Rally up the boys. Kidnapping it is.”


	10. No-Go On Kidnapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too much happens, you’re overwhelmed and throw up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lotta cursing in this one, lil muffins ;0; 
> 
> hope you enjoy!!

Chapter 10

Gaster brought you both in front of a large warehouse next to a storage units building. The actual door was small compared to the garage-like door that was shut tight. This one warehouse was unnecessarily large, actually! Gaster opened the door and gestures for you to enter first, a gentleman. You do and can’t help but stare at the crates upon crates that barely fill the room. About three monsters are individually packing the boxes with shredded newspapers, hiding its contents. A rack full of weapons is located behind them which makes you very uneasy.  
There’s two other rooms, one overseeing the mini factory and one door that leads down to what you’d rather not think about. In the corner was a table lit up by a hanging light, two familiar skeletons softly spoke to each other. Gaster caught their attention for you and gently nudged you in that direction. After that he was gone and it was just you three- and the other monsters doing illegal stuff but they probably wouldn’t listen. You cautiously stepped towards the long table, the skeletons stared in horror as you approached.  
Sans stood up and was about to say something when you cut him off with your hand, simply holding it up. You took your final steps towards the table and then sat yourself down. Sans and Papyrus followed your lead, sitting directly across from you. You let out a shaky sigh and held the ends of your skirt in your fists. Panic mode was disengaged.

“I know.” You said simply. It was a start, not a good one but a beginning nonetheless! 

“I dunno how but I always had a feeling, I guess.” You smoothed out your skirt, calm again, “That ain’t why I’m here, though.”

The skeletons stared at you, on the edge of their seats and hanging on every word you said.

This was terrifying for them. 

Their entire time up here, their thoughts and dreams had all been consumed by you and they could lose you. Easily. Right now. Papyrus wanted to hang his head in shame but if this was the last time he’d ever see you he wanted to memorize ever detail of your pretty face so he’d never forget it. Sans wanted to laugh this off and go on as normal. Or maybe this was a nightmare and any second he’d wake up at his desk, you’d be back in the office with the usual smile that relaxed him so. He was very much awake though. This was a nightmare come to life.

“This isn’t about the business. This isn’t about the lies or secrets.” You said at last and the skeletons could breathe again but barely, “This is about us.”

“Us?” Sans repeated. 

“Yes!” You half laughed, half shouted in disbelief, “This entire time I’ve worked for ya, I didn’t do it ‘cause I needed the money- I was fine at that crappy diner! I did all this ‘cause you two make me happy!” 

Tears were pooling up in your eyes. 

“Every night I saw you two in the diner, was anotha shift I could make it through with a smile. Then every day I spent working with you was another day that was easier than the last!” You explained, “This town is a fuckin’ mess, it’s drainin’, you’d know that just as good as me.” 

You wiped your tears and sniffed, when your face was revealed again you were smiling, “But you’re the best things I have goin’ for me... I love ya both.”

You could tell they both wanted their turn to say their piece.

“Now, I wanna go home and sleep and not have to worry you two are keepin’ anything else from me.” You playfully glared at them, wiping your eyes one more time. The emotional part on your behalf was done. 

“There isn’t!” Papyrus exclaimed quickly, “But we have a confession!”

“Pap-“

“No, brother, it is now or never!” He turned his attention to you, cheek bones glowing orange, “I will speak for myself when I say I-I love you as well!”

Your heart raced a bit. Papyrus said he loved things all the time, sweets, exercise and Disney movies, but never to a person besides his brother. Could be truly mean what he said? Papyrus wasn’t one to say something he didn’t think was true and he certainly wasn’t about to lie to you now.

“Ah, I feel much better now. Brother it is your turn to express your emotions.” Papyrus smiled to his brother, who was glowing blue all over. 

“I think we can talk about this more tomorrow.” You chuckled, Sans didn’t look like he wanted to confess this way. 

“N-No. I’ll say it. I love you too.” He mumbled the last part but your smile was spreading. Sans was very open to you one-on-one, in front of others not so much. He played this laid back character but you knew there was more to him than that.

“Ok.” You said and folded your arms on the table, “So what now?”

“Whattaya mean what now!” Sans was blushing more, if that was even possible. 

“I told ya, this conversation is about us! So what now for ‘us’?” You tried not to laugh at how adorable he looked. 

“I-“

“What would you be comfortable with, (Name)?” Papyrus asked seriously. 

“I-I just want you both in my life. No matter how that is.” You blushed a bit, not wanting to blurt out that you greedily want both their skeleton hearts to be solely yours. There’s absolutely no easy way to say that.

“Pap and I think you’re our soulmate.” Sans said, his blush slowly fading.

Right, that’s what Gaster was talking about. Or was it? He mentioned a few things about souls, you tried not to mix them up.

“So we were literally made for each other?” You pointed a finger to the three of you in an awkward circle.

“In a sense..?” Sans shrugged, not sure how to simplify it more than that.

“Which, we hope, will mean you will consider an offer.” Papyrus phrased it as a question.

You nodded but remained silent.

The skeletons continued to explain bits of pieces of what it meant to be soulmates before actually proposing the offer. If you would allow them to, they’d be honored to mark you but direct your relationship into a more intimate one. They told you humans wouldn’t be able to see the mark but you spending more time with them would be obvious and hard to hide. Because of this, you would have the option live with them or two monsters of their choice would be keeping an eye on your apartment every day.  
The mark they bestowed on you would be the symbol of their courtship, your relationship would be exclusive from that moment on. Again, there was no doubt in your mind about your feelings for Sans and Papyrus but you couldn’t help feel sick. Then you remembered what Gaster told you. You got to have your own conditions, right? Maybe that would make you more comfortable.

“No more secrets.” You demanded and the skeletons across from you nodded their heads vigorously.

“If you’re gonna be out late or doin’ somethin’ dangerous at least tell me so I don’t have a panic attack.” That was fair, “And I’m gonna get my own job.”

“What?” Sans gave you a offended look, “What’s wrong with your job now?”

“It’s not real?” You raised a brow at him.

“Only if we get to pick your job.” Sans shot back.

“You can have suggestions.” You smirked and watched his glare turn into a playful one. 

You shook hands with Sans to symbolize your deal. 

“Are you guys gonna mark me now? Or-“

Papyrus fell out of his chair. 

“Pap?! You ok?!” You climbed over the table to check on him while Sans laughed.

“I am fine, human!” Papyrus said, remaining on the floor.

“We’ll give ya the marks in private.” Sans said, still chuckling. Oh, you got it now, it was a more sensual thing. 

“Can I have the night to think ‘bout everythin’ else?” You asked, rubbing your arm nervously. Sans placed a hand on yours to relax you. 

“As long as you need, sweetheart.” Sans winked at you. You felt your heart flutter and smiled, blushing a bit. 

When Sans and Papyrus offered to drive you home, you graciously accepted. You were emotionally exhausted and, though you had a lot to think about, the only thing on your mind was your comfortable bed! You waved goodbye to the skeletons, who didn’t leave until you were safely inside your apartment building. 

You reached for your door handle and noticed it was open. Not the lock, the door. Your hand quietly began reaching for your phone but then you heard shuffling from inside.

Against your better judgment, you gripped your pepper spray opened the door. It creaked quietly but the footsteps continued shuffling so you assumed you weren’t heard. The kitchen light was on, your heart beat loudly inside your chest as you poked your head around to see if it was your roommate or her boyfriend. 

“Hello, (Name).” A familiar voice said from behind you.

“AHHH!” You screamed, whipping around and aiming the pepper towards the person. With your eyes shut tight, you sprayed a bit of the tiny cans contents into the persons face, peaking an eye open to see James falling to the floor. 

“James!?” You inhaled, realizing you needed air, “What the fuck!?”

The door was shut by a different man and you narrowed your eyes at him, aiming the pepper spray again. James was crying at your feet, desperately trying to rub the spicy chemical out of his eyes. 

You heard a laugh behind you and whipped around again. You could see the figure of someone sitting on the couch. The rest of your apartment was dark so you turned on the lights, aiming your only weapon towards the figure. Your heart sank and you suddenly felt sick to your stomach when you saw your brother sitting there, smirking at you.

“My dear sister. I missed ya, brat.” He said with an almost teasing tone to his voice, “Isn’t it past your curfew?”

“V... Vino? Vino?! Vino?!” You could only say his name as you stared in shock at your brother.

“Ah, it’s been a while since I heard my own name. They usually call me ‘Boss’.” He said, resting his cheek on his fist as he propped his arm on the couch. 

“No. No. No.” You shook your head, your disbelief turning to rage, “You don’t get to do this.”

“What?” He asked, genuinely confused.

“You don’t get to fuckin’ act like this is normal and I’m crazy!” You were beyond panic mode. This was total rage. 

“No one said your-“

You chucked the can of pepper spray at him, it hit his head but you didn’t see. You dove into the kitchen and began digging through drawers. The man at the door have Vino an odd look but he made a gesture for the man to stay put. Your brother got up and made his way into the kitchen, where you’d gotten a knife. 

“Where’s my roommate?” You asked, turning around and pointing the new weapon at your brother.

“Ya don’t wanna ask how your dear older brother, is?” He asked, faking a wounded tone.

You narrowed your eyes and tightened your grip on the knife. 

“Roxy is fine. I told her we’re exterminating in here and it’s not safe to come back for 2 days.” 

You didn’t care how he knew Roxy. You could only assume the worst from the little bits he’s said. Your heart still beat painfully against your chest and you were ready to throw up but you couldn’t pretend this was a dream. This was all real, sickeningly real and nothing would change that. Your brother was alive, had something to do with James and was quite possibly a mob boss. This was too much to take in right now.

“You look sick.” Vino commented, sounding genuinely concerned.

This was the moment you took it all in.

Your brother grew up to look just liked you, except a little taller. He had on a nicely tailored suit but the jacket was off, probably on the couch somewhere. Mom would be so proud to see her little boy had grown up so handsome. Dad would be just as proud. You thought of the last family meal you had and how your mom set up a dinner plate for Vino at the table for weeks before she finally accepted it. 

Your vision became filled with tears but you could see the concerned look on Vino’s face turn into annoyance. 

“Now you’re cryin’? Didn’t see ya mourn at my funeral.” He scoffed.

“Mom was depressed c-cause’a you!” You shouted through clenched teeth, making Vino jump, “Dad had to work t-t-two jobs. I d-dropped out of college t-to help them!” 

Vino turned away from you, “So?”

“S-So. I. Hate. Y-You.” You said, sobbing now. You held both your hands to your chest, the knife dangerously close to your skin.

You fell to the floor crying, dropping the knife by your knees. This was so unfair. Yet this was so like Vino. This was classically your brother, something he’d absolutely do. You should have known. The body? There’s only so many dumping sites in the city and the cops checked them all twice! 

You wiped your tears and glared up at your brother.

“Ya done, now, brat?” He asked, returning the glare.

You spat at his feet. A clear warning of a threat. 

“Good. We gotta talk.” Vino sat on the kitchen across from you.

You remained silent, staring hard at your brother.

“We can do this my way or the hard way.” Vino smirked, “Either you quit your job n’ ditch those monsters of yours or-“

“I already quit.” You growled.

“What?” Vino looked upset.

“Did I stutter? I said, ‘I already quit’!”

“No shit, brat, but what do you mean?!” 

“I think it’s pretty obvious.” You snarled, wanting to be amused but you were too upset, “I quit right before I got home. I cant dumb it down further!”

Vino glared at you, “How do I know your tellin’ the truth?”

“Why would I lie? Go ahead, call tomorrow and ask for me. I sure as hell won’t be there!” You crosses your arms.

“Why.”

“Why d’ya think?” You hissed, “I found out they’re part of the one thing I hate more than you.” 

Vino flinched and for a split second you felt a pang or regret. Then he reached forward and grabbed your neck, squeezing his thumb against your windpipe.

“I swear, brat, if yer fuckin’ lyin’, we’ll be back.” Your brother whispered and threw you back against the cabinet. You coughed and caught your breath.

“Y’should say hi to the folks, Vino.“ You wheezed with a glare as he left. 

The man at the door slung James over his shoulder and followed Vino out the door. As he sped ahead of his minions, he wiped away a tear. 

That’s not how he wanted it to go at all. 

Sans and Papyrus took a ‘shortcut’ to your apartment the moment you texted them. They got there at the worst possible time, right when you began puking whatever was in your stomach into the toilet. 

“Your brother is the one in charge of James?!” Sans said, trying to comprehend what you’d told him.

“Brother, please.” Papyrus tried to relax him as he held your hair back. 

You spat into the toilet and climbed up to the sink, rinsing your mouth out immediately. 

“My brothers alive.” You whispered, recapping what happened, “He’s in charge of a monster-hating gang, and he doesn’t want me working for you.” 

“He’s gonna be pissed when he hears we’re dating then, huh?” Sans couldn’t resist the urge to throw a joke out there. 

Oh how he had no idea.


	11. Big Boss(y) Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get an inside look in Vino and James’ perspective of all this!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who doesn’t love filler episodes!? 
> 
> nothing much happens in this 
> 
> don’t forget to cast your votes on who should confess first! that chapters coming up soon

Chapter 11

 

They say ‘forgive and forget’ or ‘’learn from your mistakes’ but they never tell you what to do if you can’t. No one ever gets the chance to tell the story of how their hatred was so strong it devoured them and there was no going back!  
Vino looked at his parents house for what surely wouldn’t be the last time. He wrapped his scarf around his neck a little tighter than usual. You were 18 and given the 5 year age gap, Vino was 23. He didn’t realize how young he was at the time. He didn’t have all the answers, but he sure as hell wanted them, and a young man trying to find his way in this cruel town can easily be mislead by the wrong person.  
Vino found that person in the form of a mafia leader, who was happy to take him under his wing should he do the man one favor. It was like paying your entrance fee. Technically, initiations were supposed to be the same but whoever makes the rules can change them to their content. The favor, in the form of Vino’s initiation, was to take out a rival gang member that would soon be causing problems.

The young man stood in the darkest of alleyways on the empty street. Lamp lights flickered on and off before sticking to on just long enough for Vino to see. A few monsters had walked by but he saw his target by the time the light went out again. Sneaking out of the alley, he tip-toed closer to the group of monsters, near enough to listen to their chatter. Vino aimed the gun at his target, his finger shaking nervously as it gripped the trigger. Then all he heard was a loud bang... but not from his gun. A shot was fired right next to Vino’s head and the young man drop to his knees, his only defense sliding away from him. A monster gave him a warning shot. The creature reached down, gripping Vino’s scarf and holding it high in the air. The human gasped for air and was able to unravel himself, landing on his butt. The group of monsters chuckled at him darkly.  
Vino looked up to see a skeleton glaring down at him. He couldn’t move or look away no matter how badly he wanted to. Every voice in his mind was screaming for him to run but he couldn’t.

“Who were you aiming for?” The voice of the skeleton was demanding- and terrifying!

Vino pointed to his target, trying his hardest not to show how intimidated he really was. It was only a stupid monster after all.

“Go ahead. Take your shot, then.” 

The monsters gasped and looked to the skeleton with fear. The skeleton man must have glared at them because they all began moving away from the one Vino was supposed to kill.  
A bony hand gripped Vino’s wrist harshly, shoving his gun back into his palm. The form of the weapon was like a familiar hug as his finger rested again on the trigger. While glaring at his target, Vino saw fear in the monsters eyes. He remembered what he was told. They don’t actually feel pain, they’re not like humans at all. All monsters want is to rule over mankind, that’s why they’re here. The regret of his decision washed away immediately as he pulled the trigger. The next thing Vino saw was a pile of dust where the monster stood a minute ago. All his friends scattered at the sound of police sirens. Vino realized he was still on the ground and needed to run! He jumped to his feet but whipped around to find his path was blocked by the tall skeleton. He was... smiling? It was an all knowing smile, as if Vino had just held a piece to a puzzle the skeleton needed! The tall creature then dropped the humans scarf and disappeared into the shadows, his dark laugh lingering.  
Vino realized the siren was getting louder, which meant closer. He threw the gun down dived into the alleyway he was hiding in before. He heard the police van stop and men began talking as he climbed over the fence. The cops were mumbling amongst each other as he ran away. The one word he caught before his feet took him far away was Gaster. As in the monster Vino was supposed to kill. 

How could he have known that this was the same monster his sister would one day be working for?

The initiation was ruled as a technicality, he killed a monster. Not the one he was supposed to assassinate but a monster nonetheless and the proof was in the news. ‘The first deadly stand off between monster and human’, his scarf was in the frame on the TV. Vino could only picture the disappointment on his parents faces, thinking he was dead. Not to mention you, sure you were old enough to know how death works but how would you feel? His rash actions paid the consequences as the realization settled in, he would never be allowed to see his family again. Even if Vino has succeeded in his assassination, there would be vengeful monsters after his soul. There was, officially, no going back.

Vino was partially wrong.

He was allowed to see you again. Just no contact what so ever, was permitted. He watched from afar as his mother fell to her knees, her sobs sending shivers up the spines to every creature that had one. His father was crying as well as he held his wife, mourning silently though. Then there was you. You were softly glaring at the picture of your brother, not even a tear was shed from you.  
Rage washed over Vino as he looked at you in confusion. Her dear older brother was dead and she wasn’t even slightly upset by it? Vino watched his father take his mother away after the funeral. You stood up from your seat as everyone left and walked over to the stone that read his name. Your lips moved as you said something but he couldn’t make out what the words were. Vino leaned forward, hoping you’d repeat yourself but you turned around and walked away after that. The familiar voice of the terrifying skeleton, mixed with your bitter voice, rang in his head.

“Selfish asshole.” 

He sighed angrily and glared at the crowd as they all left the graveyard. 

That was the last time he did some checking in on you. Once in a while he would send a scout to do a report on your parents but that was about it. Life went on for your brother, he continued to move up in the skeletons rival gang. The next thing he knew, he took the place of the old mafia boss after stabbing him in the back- literally. Vino was officially no more, he was Bad Boss.  
James wasn’t his ideal right hand man, he wasn’t nearly as violent as anyone in their gang would like. However he was a great schemer, with his charms and handsome looks, he could get just about anyone to do what he wanted. Until the incident at the grocery store. That was something that had never happened before. When James angrily stormed out of the office and saw you, a lightbulb went off in his conniving mind. It was his job to remember the backgrounds and names of every person in this city, human or monster, so that Big Boss didn’t have to. James was almost like a living facebook, connecting people to their pasts in seconds of seeing them.  
Recognizing you was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to him that day. Big Boss would have torn James apart for not accomplishing the only task he could ever complete. Watching the skeletons come to your rescue only minutes after you fainted was just icing on the cake. Returning to their hideout with this information immediately lifted Vino’s mood. Playing a role helped him forget about his younger sister but the bitter reasoning of why was still there. That didn’t stop his delight from hearing about you shine through.

“How old is she now?” Vino asked, a genuine, proud smile on his lips.

“It’s only been 5 years,” James rolled his eyes, “She’s 23 now.”

The smile vanished immediately. Crap was he really 28? His heart started pounding when he was cognizant of the fact you were the same age as he was when he made his fatal mistake.

“What happened when ya left?” Vino’s eagerness was quickly replaced with demand. James snarky attitude fell immediately, he knew Big Boss’ limits.

“You won’t like this part.” James warned, tugging at his shirt collar.

“I didn’t fuckin’ ask for what I’d like.” Vino growled.

“(Name) fainted and the two skeletons from Gaster’s gang came and took her home.” James said quickly, jumping to the side as Vino chucked the table across the room.  
It was too coincidental for his liking. You were 23 and just happened to be close with two skeleton mafia leaders? A likely story.

“You.” James froze as Vino whipped around to glare at him, “You’ll go find (Name) tomorrow and figure out what she knows.”

James did just that- he tried to, anyways. When the charming man saw you he was half hoping you’d quickly send him on his way or even faint again, either one to get him out of this dull task. Then you actually accepted which made him slightly intrigued. What kept him there, though, was how you asked him questions as well during the apology meal. Nothing made James happier than talking about himself, he was even pleased that he made you laugh a few times. James would be lying if he said he didn’t think you were pretty. You’d clearly just woken up when you went to retrieve your moped, and you were still attractive enough to keep him entertained in what you had to say! Perhaps when this was over he could take you on a deal date.

Vino squashed the idea of you dating anyone once James returned.

“My sis ain’t clueless!” He shouted.

“No but she definitely doesn’t know anything about the skeletons.” James mumbled the last bit, “Or she’s really good at lying.” 

Vino was about to break another table when James stopped him.

“Wait! I-I might have an idea, boss.”

“I’m listenin’...”

Thus the plan to try and buy your way out of the skeletons grip came to play. It failed but at least it got them deeper into the action. They’d come to learn that you weren’t aware of what the skeletons did for a living, you weren’t being forced to work for them and you might even...

Ugh, Vino wanted to vomit at the mentioning of you being interested in those monsters! Romantic or platonic, it didn’t matter to him. Monsters were all the same and he’d be damned if he let his little sister be played like a pawn! Vino was quick to find out where you lived. The skeleton brothers weren’t exactly geniuses when it came to hiding their whereabouts. It was almost like they didn’t care who saw them with you, which pissed Vino off to the max. How dare they flaunt you around in public! Someone could easily use you to their advantage! 

Someone like Vino.

The conversation wasn’t how he’d pictured it going. Now that Vino thought about it, he really didn’t know how well he’d expected it to go. Definitely not like that though. A part of him even wanted you to be happy to see him. Sure you wouldn’t jump for joy but something! He couldn’t say he wasn’t disappointed but now he was enraged. The monsters he’d worked so hard to rid this town of had tricked and befriended his own family! Did they all forget who killed him? Who murdered their aunts and uncles who were raised in gangs like this one!?

Vino didn’t.

He wouldn’t never forgive and he would never forget. 

His heart was hardened by this life and his soul was unredeemable.

“I swear, brat, if yer fuckin’ lyin’, we’ll be back.” Your brother whispered and threw you back against the cabinet. Vino stood up and marched to the door.

“Y’should say hi to the folks, Vino.“

His heart skipped a beat as you said that but he didn’t let it show, he continued walking. 

You’d just given him a deliciously evil idea.

“Maybe I will.” Vino said as a smirk spread on his lips.


	12. Benefits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this ones a bit short, my birthday is saturday and i won’t be around to post much till next week! 
> 
> enjoy my lil muffins !
> 
> (requests open for oneshots)

Chapter 12

There were no options left but to move in with the skeletons. Gaster cursed all three of you for being so naive and careless as to let a dangerous gang know where you lived. You decided against your comical remark of ‘Sans and Papyrus knew where I lived, they’re in a dangerous gang’. A smart choice it was. You saw the skeleton brothers hang their head in shame as their father scolded them like children. It was weird to see them act like this but it wasn’t too odd considering he was their dad.   
Somehow. Anyways, he demanded that you lie low for a few days until they found you a permanent escort. Someone who could “actually” protect you, Gaster’s words were harsh but Sans and Papyrus knew they were true. They’d let their guards down but it was not a mistake they would make again.  
Even though the skeleton brothers were guilty that you had no choice but to live here, they were silently ecstatic about it. You technically could’ve went to a friend or a hotel but you actually took them up on their offer! That counted for something! It also meant they could move forward with executing their plan. Papyrus wanted to have a sleepover in order to celebrate your first night but Gaster shot that idea down. He took his sons out on a mission immediately after his lecture was over.

Leaving you alone. 

You weren’t too upset about it. You’d been to their house before, it wasn’t like you needed a grand tour of the place! All your belongings fit into one suitcase, which somewhat upset and pleased you at the same time. You took the guest room, hoping neither of the skeletons would be too butthurt over it, and began unpacking. Sans must’ve known you’d pick that room to stay in because you found a few pictures of the three of you in beautiful frames. You pulled out your own favorites pictures and placed them on the vanity desk.   
You looked in the mirror after you set them down and studied your reflection. Vino had (h/c) hair like yours, only shorter and styled differently. His (e/c) eyes matched yours along with his skin color. Suddenly your reflection was Vino. Your shocked face turned into a glare and Vino’s reflection did the same. The anger faded the longer you stared at the reflection and it copied you. Vino’s grimace turned into a frown and you saw he was crying. Your hand instinctively went up to touch your cheek. Tears. It was you crying, not him.

“Ya always left me to clean up your messes, classic Vino.” The reflection didn’t talk as you did, “I had to watch pops struggle for money ‘cause mom was too depressed to go to work. I dropped out of school, got 3 different jobs to help them pay rent and stay on top of my own!”

No reaction from the reflection.

“Ya didn’t hafta go that night, y’know?” 

The tears poured harder.

“Your friend died ‘cause he was in that gang. You didn’t hafta take his place.” You said angrily to the reflection, “You ain’t playin’ the hero ‘cause you’re out there killin’ monsters to avenge him!”

All you saw was your brother flash a wicked smirk before you blinked and were left staring at yourself again.

Your voice quivered, “I hate you, Vino.”

That’s exactly what he did. He would start something he couldn’t finish and leave you to deal with it. You dropped to your knees and cried after that. 

You finished unpacking the room in silence, trying not to brood over what happened with your brother. Your thoughts traveled to your parents, what would they think of all this? Normally you went to them when you were stumped and needed answers but something told you that this wasn’t something that they could help you with. The house suddenly came overwhelmed with the scent of pizza. You emerged from your room in a (f/c), (f/c 2), (f/c3) tie die shirt that revealed your stomach and black pajama pants with (f/c) stars all over them. You walked down the stairs to find Sans and Papyrus tiredly walking around the kitchen.

“Hey guys.” Your voice must have startled Papyrus because he dropped the pizzas.

“(Name)! Why are you awake!?” He said, an embarrassed blush dusting his cheekbones.

“What d’ya mean?” You tilted your head as you sat next to Sans at the table.

“It’s 5am, doll.” He sleepily replied. 

Holy shit, it was! You’d come straight from your house to here but the last time you checked the clock it was 11:46 at night, right after the talk you’d had yesterday. 

“And you’re havin’ pizza? For breakfast?” You couldn’t help but smirk. 

“I wanted a salad!” Papyrus pouted.

“We can make a pizza salad, bro.” Sans chuckled, earning an annoyed look from his brother.

“How ‘bout a fruit salad?” You suggested. 

“That is a wonderful idea!” Papyrus rummaged the fridge for various fruits.

“Pizza n’ fruit salad?” Sans laughed, “A pear-fectly balanced breakfast.”

“Sans, no, it’s too early for this.” Papyrus glared.

“I didn’t think it was berry bad.” You whispered, kissing the top of his skull as you moved to help Papyrus with the plates. Sans blushed and hid his face in his arms as he leaned over the table. 

You suddenly felt like the kiss was a bad choice.

You were so caught up in your brothers little visit, you hadn’t really gotten a chance to ponder about your new “relationship” with Sans and Papyrus. It would be exclusively you three but other than that you weren’t sure how it would work. Would you be with Sans one day and spend the next with Papyrus? Your stomach felt queasy as you fixed your plate with fruit salad, your appetite had been filled with nerves.

“Is something the matter?” Papyrus asked you softly. 

You were so busy thinking you’d piled too much fruit onto your plate. You laughed nervously and pushed some fruit back into the bowl. Papyrus gave you his sad, puppy dog eyes that you couldn’t resist.

“‘M just confused, still.” You admitted 

“Perhaps the Great Papyrus can be of assistant!” The skeleton turned around and pointed to the table, “Brother! Would you-“

Sans vanished. He must have seen this coming and took a shortcut somewhere. You looked to the counter and noticed the pizza box was missing a few slices. You and Papyrus sat at the, now empty, table.

“I love you and Sans,” You started, “Obviously.” 

“Obviously.” Papyrus repeated, in a ‘no shit’ sort of way, which made you laugh. He smiled at you, that must have been his goal.

“But I had, like, one boyfriend in high school. I have zero idea what to do in a relationship. I pretty much jumped the gun straight to soulmate stuff.” You said with a sad chuckle. 

Papyrus made a thoughtful noise as he listened to you. For a moment you thought he was pouting but as you looked to him, he was smiling. 

“(Name).” 

“Pap.”

“Do you like being friends with my brother and I?” 

“Of course, my favorite thing in the world is hangin’ with both of ya.” You said honestly. 

“What if our dynamic remained that way!” 

“Like jus’ bein’ friends?”

“With benefits!” Papyrus exclaimed as if he had an epiphany. 

You burst out laughing at that and realized Sans was in the other room, listening to you.

“Brother! If you were going to eavesdrop, you might as well have just stayed in the room!” Papyrus yelled to where Sans was.

In an instant, the skeleton was at the table with a ketchup bottle. 

“If ya insist.” Sans smirked, sipping the red sauce. 

“Pap, I think you were onto something.” You said as you finally stopped laughing. 

“I was? Oh! Of course, I was!” His posture was proud but his face remained confused.

“I’m jus’ over thinkin’ this, nothin’ has’ta change!” You smiled, resting your head in your hand, “We jus’ keep bein’ friends but-“

“With benefits.” Sans snickered.

“In a rel-a-tion-ship.” You enunciated the word with a smile. 

The two skeletons nodded with you. Now that it was simplified for you, you weren’t as uneasy as before. A new sense replaced your nerves and filled you up with confidence. 

You could do this.


	13. Value

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster looks at your soul and you throw a tantrum. Then you and Papyrus get some alone time. *wonk*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what whaaaat !   
> lotta stuff goin on here, are you muffins ready for it ? !
> 
> enjoy !
> 
> ( requests for oneshots are open btw )

Chapter 13

You had the house to yourself the rest of the day. You were never really one for days off so you had absolutely no idea what to do with yourself. You went to bed after your odd breakfast with the skeletons while they went to work. Or whatever “work” meant today. After a few hour nap, you woke up and ran out of things to do. You would clean the house but Papyrus has this place spotless. Currently you sat in front of the tv, boredly watching (fav show). It was an episode you had already seen so you weren’t really interested in it.

“You do not require a lot, do you?” An every voice made its presence known. 

You were sprawled across the couch so the only place left to sit was Sans big recliner. You rolled to your stomach and rested your upper body on your elbows to see Gaster. He was writing something down in a black book.

“I guess not. Food, sleep, attention... Humans are kind of like big cats.”

“An odd comparison.” Gaster wrote something down.

You shrugged, couldn’t argue with his logic. It was definitely odd. Also you’d never challenge that skeletons’ wisdom. 

“I have a proposition for you.”

“Geez, ‘m gettin’ offers left and right.” You joke. He smiled at your comment but was 100% serious. 

“I heard rumor of a career opening up at Mettaton’s television branch.” 

“MTT TV.” You laughed, “Ya think I could be the microphone holder?” 

“Actually, it is more of a personal position. The robot requires an assistant.” 

Oh. That was interesting. You were obviously crazy good at being a glorified receptionist. Assistant was one step higher! 

“That sounds great.” You said honestly. 

“I will get you said position, should you do something for me.” Gaster set the book and pen down in his lap. 

“Sure?” You said, giving him a suspicious glance. 

“I request to see your soul.” 

Your knowledge to monsters were limited but you were almost certain they could see souls anyways, stats included.

“Obviously, I have already looked at your stats and such. I wish to see your soul in its entirety.” Gaster explained as if he was reading your mind.

“Uh, ok. Go ahead.” 

Gaster seemed taken aback that you’d agreed so willingly. Souls must have had a deeper meaning than you originally thought. Sure, you were aware they contained every aspect of your personal choices- Actually, yeah, that sounded dangerously intense when you put it that way.

“W-Wait! Can you tell me what everything means when you look at it?” Sans and Papyrus never explicitly told you they’d looked at your stats but you knew they did. You wished they would’ve explained it to you, it was fascinating to think about. 

Gaster gestured for you to sit up so he could join you on the couch. You moved so sit on the other end, crossing your legs and facing your body towards him. The skeleton wordlessly matched your position. You don’t know why but you’d expected him to give you SOME sort of warning. The room suddenly became pitch black, it was just you and Gaster. Your body felt cold as he pulled out your soul. It was (soul color) and heart shaped! Gaster studied it quietly but your impatience caught onto him. He sighed and pointed to nothing- well, nothing that you could see.

“You are a level 4. Your health points are at 32, however, your attack is at 14. Your defense is at 11- unusual- and your LOVE is at 2.” Gaster looked through some more stuff, rambling on about things that partially made sense to you. Suddenly he stopped talking and gave you a pitiful glance. The skeleton studied your soul intensely. He grabbed your wrist and forced you to take back the soul, watching as you held it in awe. The heart floated in your hand for a minute before getting sucked back into your body.  
You gasped as if you weren’t breathing and the room returned to its normal stature. You whipped your head around, confused, before looking to Gaster for answers. He didn’t seem interested in giving you any explanations, his gaze was hard and made you nervous.

“What?” You asked, returning his suspicious look. 

“Have you ever killed someone before?” He asked.

“Wha- No!” You weren’t offended but what kind of question was that! Dummy, how about an every day kind of question for a mobster. 

“You have a single death on your soul.” 

“I-I do?” You asked, horrified.

Gaster’s relaxed features returned, “I understand now.” 

The skeleton began writing in his book again. You glanced at the page and saw it had your name on it, as well as a drawing of you. You dragged your attention back to Gaster, still confused and now frustrated.

“I don’t! I’ve never killed anyone!” 

“This is true.”

“Can souls lie!?” You exclaimed, still shocked.

“Calm yourself.” Gaster demanded. 

You instead threw yourself on the floor, leaving your legs on the couch. You could not CALM yourself! Not when your soul, and every other monster that every looked at you, thought you killed someone. Oh stars. Sans and Papyrus, did they think you were a murderer? 

“Child.” Gaster’s voice was relaxed once again. 

You looked to him, trying to match his seemingly relaxed features. 

“You blame yourself for your Vino’s death.”

“He’s not dead though.” You commented. 

Gaster nodded, “This is true... However,” his voice was sad, “He means nothing to you. The boy is still dead, in your eyes.”

That kind of made sense. You thought you could have prevented Vino’s death and it damaged your soul, but was still dead to you because... he wasn’t actually dead. You sighed, maybe you shouldn’t hate Vino. Suddenly your eyes looked to Gaster curiously. 

You never told him your brothers name. 

You both stayed quiet after that. Gaster did keep his end of the deal, calling Mettaton and accepting the job on your behalf. You texted Papyrus about it and joked about getting him an autograph. He didn’t get around to responding until two hours later. Being on house arrest alone was getting boring, you found a few ways to entertain yourself but as the day came to an end you were at your limit.  
You threw on the least conspicuous outfit you could and made your way to the front door. Gaster walked by that same moment, you wondered if he was stalking you, stopping and giving you a curious look. 

“Child, it has not even been a full 24 hour cycle and you think it is a good idea to roam around outside?”

“I just wanna go on a walk, then I’ll come right back.” You yanked out your phone, “You can even track me with your phone.”

“What makes you so certain I even carry a cellular device?”

“I saw ya playing Tetris earlier.” You smirked.

Gaster angrily took your phone, debating whether or not to crush it, and input his number. You shared your location with him and eagerly left the house, enjoying the afternoon air. It was still cold out but pleasantly so, winter might be a light one this year. You pondered when the snow would start to fall as you looked to the ground.  
Sans said he enjoyed the human holidays, how festive and joyful everyone was. The cold weather brought out the best in some people, which was a big change to the normal attitudes around here. It was a nice difference for sure. You never spent the holidays with Sans or Papyrus, you saw them the last day of work at the holiday party and then no more for the rest of the week. Usually your parents would invite you over and you’d spend a few days with them, help decorate, cook and then, of course, eat!  
You didn’t notice you began blushing as you started thinking of the upcoming holidays with Sans and Papyrus. Clearly presents were in order, you should do that soon. You could make a snowman with them, bake cookies and other tasty sweets, decorate- Maybe they’d even be willing to come to your parents house for the big day, Gaster could even join if he wanted. Your heart started pounding at the thought of your parents. Sure, they adored the skeleton brothers but the dating situation wasn’t going to be easy to explain to them. “Hey mom, dad, you know Sans and Papyrus? Well, they’re both my boyfriends now.” Yeah, that wasn’t exactly a conversation you wanted to have.  
You look up and realize you’ve made a lap around the block and you’re back in front of the skeletons house. Part of you didn’t want to go back inside, you wanted to keep walking just to keep yourself busy. That quickly faded when Sans car pulled into the driveway as you walked closer. Your eyes lit up as a smile spread across your cheeks, you waved to them. You could get used to this, the skeleton brother coming home to you. Or, depending on your new work hours, maybe you’d be coming home to them! You waved away the hilarious thought of the two brothers in french maid outfits and being housewives. Papyrus got out of the car first and leaped over to you, lifting you up and hugging you close. He whimpered, making your smile falter. You pulled away from Papyrus to look at his sad face as he set you back on your feet.

“Pap, what’s wrong?” You asked softly. 

“Get inside.” Sans voice was low and his eyes were dark as he barked his order at the two of you.

Papyrus held your hand and made you walk in front of him so he could keep you in his sights. Sans was the last one inside, locking the door behind him and glancing through the peep hole.

“Ok, what’s going on?” You said as calmly as you could but your panic mode was kicking in. Sans ignored you and pulled all the curtains closed. This suspicious behavior definitely wasn’t helping.

“We had a monster watching your building all day, case James or someone came back to find you.” Sans said. 

“And?”

“They did.” 

“We received a call that they had arrived at your apartment and went to make sure everything was alright.” Papyrus said, “Unfortunately by the time we arrived, James and your brother had spotted our monster.” 

“We got to have a chat with your brother.” Sans practically growled through his clenched teeth. 

Your heart stopped. You stopped breathing altogether actually. 

“He was quite clear he did not want us to be in any contact with you. Otherwise he might...” Papyrus trailed off. 

“What’s he gonna do?” Your eyes narrowed, “Kill me?” 

Silence. 

Oh.

“Ahem.” Gaster made his appearance known. 

Sans and his father began talking but you could only tune them out. 

Your blood brother was so racist, so evil minded, so full of hatred for monsters that he would threaten to KILL you? Your stomach rolled into a knot making you sick again, you felt faint too. That’s right, you’d stopped breathing a while ago. You inhaled sharply which only caught Papyrus’ attention. He looked to you with sad eyes, then his family. The skeleton let out a sigh and began walking towards his bedroom. You gave a glance towards Sand and Gaster, who were clearly arguing. 

“Why’d you let her out in the first place?!” Sans growled.

You didn’t want to stick around. You quickly made your way after Papyrus, who left his door wide open. You tapped your knuckles against the door frame and waited for permission anyways. He took off his jacket and turned, leaning against his desk. It wasn’t the best time to comment on this but Papyrus looked rather dashing in that pose. You hesitantly entered his room, you’d been inside before but for some reason it felt like forbidden territory.

“How’re ya doin’?” Was all you could ask.

“I am... frightened.” He responded. You walked closer towards him until your face was pressed against his chest and your arms wrapped around him in a warm embrace. You didn’t know what to say. What could you possibly say that could make this better?  
Your brother hung your life over the skeletons head and mafia bosses never made “promises” they wouldn’t keep. Vino wasn’t bluffing and you knew he had the upper hand at last. The skeletons valued your life over theirs, they’d made that clear by inviting you into their home. The real question was, did you value your life more than the skeletons?  
You looked up at Papyrus, who was now holding you against him. He was looking at you with adoration, sadness and lust. You blushed and stood on your toes, leaning your head higher to kiss him. He returned the kiss with a desperate need, lifting you up and holding you in place against him. That was a nice, and sexy, change. The previous position was hurting your neck. Papyrus moved his skull away from your mouth, making you whimper. He trailed his kisses from your cheek to your neck and you could feel him smiling all the while. He would give you a teasing bite every now and then and let out a low, breathy laugh as you jumped or quietly moaned.  
You opened your eyes as you felt movement. Papyrus carried you a few feet, you could hear the door shut then he turned you both to his bed. He playfully tossed you onto the cool comforter and climbed on top of you. You giggled at first but then froze, a dark red blush covering your entire face. Papyrus was studying your body with an intense gaze, it was no longer lustful but it still made you squirm a bit. Then he leaned down and kissed you again. You loosely wrapped your legs around his waist and placed one hand behind his skull, the other one holding his. His free hand was tangled in your hair, tugging it gently every now and then. You moaned quietly into the kiss as he carefully bit your lip. This was a happy surprise, you never took Papyrus for an experienced kind of monster! 

“(Name).” He said softly, his mouth inches apart from your lips.

“Papyrus.” You whispered, making him smile. He obviously liked the way you had just said his name.

“M-May I lift up your shirt? I just want to see your...” His free hand had trailed to your stomach, squishing it a little. You let out a little laugh and nodded, your wonderful, innocent Papyrus was still here with you. 

His presence moved away from your face and towards your stomach as he lifted your shirt a bit. You blushed horribly at the lewd thoughts crossing your mind. Suddenly his teeth lightly connected with your left hip bone, very close to the waistline of your pants. You felt something hot there, almost a burning feeling as Papyrus sat up and admired his work. You looked confused for a moment, he didn’t leave a hickey- he couldn’t. You crooked your neck forward a bit to see what he did. It was a glowing, orange mark in the shape of an upside down heart. The glowing faded and it merely looked like an orange tattoo. Papyrus sat up further, a look of pride and confusion on his face.

“What’s that?” You asked, sitting up as well. 

“I-It is my mark. You seem to have already accepted it.” He blushed, “Do you like it?” he asked quietly.

You threw your arms around Papyrus, shocking him further. You kissed his cheek bone with a big smile plastered on your face.

“I love it as much as I love you.” You said. 

Did you value your life more than the skeletons?

The answer was no. 

A life without Sans or Papyrus wasn’t one that you wanted. Vino could threaten you all he liked but you saw it in his eyes when he came to your apartment. There was still a human being in there, your brother was alive- metaphorically, this time- and you could convince him otherwise. 

You were filled with determination.


	14. O Brother Of Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long lil’ muffins!
> 
> but if you want to check out my tumblr i’ll be posting some art and oneshots there! @theawesomeaxolotl (requests for oneshots & art trades open)

Chapter 14

You don’t remember when but you fell asleep talking to Papyrus. After he’d marked you, the two of you talked a bit about soulmates then that turned to his dating manual, life underground and all his puzzles. He’d talked about his life before emerging back up here but you felt like you had a completely new understanding to it all. Papyrus also encouraged you to invite him more into your life than he already was so you indulged him. You talked the bits of your life he didn’t know, some of what he already knew and he seemed to have the same reaction. You felt an entire new connection with Papyrus and it was like being beyond any happiness you’ve ever known. You felt a little guilty for falling asleep as he talked but his voice was incredibly soothing.  
When you woke, Papyrus lies next to you, sound asleep. You freed yourself from his loose grip and quietly exited his room. Your stomach growled lowly, along with a sudden craving for a cigarette. To accommodate both, you grabbed your pack and lighter and headed to the kitchen. Anything with the least amount of effort and noise would do, so you settled for a slice of cold, leftover pizza. You decided to play it safe and stay in their backyard. It was much bigger than yours, mainly concrete with a pool and pretty flowers everywhere. Though tonight the flowers were bundled up, as you stood out there you realized it was much colder than it was before. It almost made the cold pizza unappetizing. Almost. You loved cold pizza, you thought as you took a bite and sat on the cold concrete next to the pool. It gave off a nice, blue glow on the area around you and reminded you of a certain someone. It was comforting to have some light, the rest of the neighborhood was pitch black. The sky was overcast, blocking your view of the stars and moon, making everything look overly dim.  
A shiver ran down your spine as you finished your pizza. The air smelled of cigarettes which made you scrunch your nose and turn around. That scent was magic cigarettes! Your head stopped when you saw Sans sitting on his balcony, the only reason he would smoke there was because his faced inward. The skeleton hadn’t notice you yet so you took the opportunity to spook him. The only idea you had was to throw your lighter at him so that’s what you did. It worked. Sans fell back, holding in a scream and almost inhaling his cigarette. You laughed as he glared down at you. The skeleton teleported next to you, still wearing his playful glare.

“Asshole.” He muttered as he smiled, not able to be genuinely mad at you. 

You quietly laughed a little more before holding out your hand for your lighter.

“Oh, ya want this?” Sans smirked.

“Yes, gimme.” You whined.

Sans tossed your lighter in the pool, making you gasp but you just fell back laughing. It was worth it. As you lied on your back, Sans gave you a shocked and jealous(?) look. Your shirt covered your stomach but was revealed just enough for him to catch the orange glow on your hip. He tossed his lighter at you with a smile, “So he managed to give ya his mark, huh?”

You sat up, slightly serious now, giggling nervously, “Oh, hehe, yeah.” 

“How ya feelin’?” Sans asked as you lit your cigarette. 

“The same.” You shrugged, “I do kinda feel closer to Paps, though, in a way I didn’t know was possible.” 

Sans smiled at you as you hugged your knees to your chest.

“It’s almost like I feel what he feels?” You tried to explain. The look Sans gave you was all knowing, kind of like Gaster’s. He enjoyed watching you try to explain it to him even though he knew better than your own words what it was. You laughed and shoved him playfully for that. Sans laughed with you and took a drag of his own cigarette.

“Does this mean you’ll mark me now?” You asked, slightly hopeful. 

“Nah, I don’t really feel like it.” The skeleton smirked. You rolled your eyes with a smile. 

The small bursts of adrenaline rushed through you as you pulled drags from your cigarette. You wondered how often Sans would smoke at night, if Gaster or Papyrus minded or even noticed. Finally you squashed it against the cement and tossed it over the fence. With this new surge of energy, you looked to Sans with a big, troublemaking smile. 

“Swim with me.” You said as you stood up. You were already pulling off your pajama pants in front of the skeleton to reveal your black, somewhat lacy, boy short-panties. Sans looked like he was going to have a heart attack but then sighed in relief.

“It’s freezing cold and the middle of the night.” Sans couldn’t help smile at your childish antics. This was one of the many things he adored about you. No matter how gruesome of a day he had, he could count on you to cheer him up somehow. You didn’t even try, the way you were simply balanced Sans out and made him feel at peace. Still, there was no way in hell he was going swimming rig-

Splash! 

You didn’t give him a choice. You tackled Sans into the water with you, popping up and laughing quietly. The pool was heated and it actually felt nice with the cool night air. Sans popped up and gasped for air as if you were trying to drown him, he tried to glare at you but couldn’t keep a straight face. He needed this more than anything, quality time with you, even if it meant going swimming this late at night. As the skeleton was thinking earlier, you brought out the best in him and he needed to get away from the dark thoughts consuming his mind.  
Sans began laughing out loud and you tried to shush him, failing miserably as you could only laugh as well.

“Y-your gonna wake up Gaster and Pap!” You warned through giggles.

“Gaster ain’t here and Papyrus is a deep sleeper.” Sans said, talking normally.

“Why the fuck were we whispering then!?” You laughed loudly, splashing him. 

Sans splashed you back and watched as you pretended to drown. He rolled his eye lights and took off some of his clothes that were weighing him down. His pants and belt stayed but everything else lied soaking wet in a pile by your pajama pants. Sans snickered as he hoped your pans would get soaked as revenge for pushing him in the pool with you.

You popped back up to the surface with your little lighter, tossing it into the pile of soaked clothes. You swam to the shallow end and sat on the staircase that lead into the water. Sans joined you but remained submerged, only his eye sockets and the top of his skull poked above the water. You smiled at him, giving a breathy laugh of disbelief. He could be extremely childish sometimes.

“What? S’cold, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, but you’re a skeleton! Can ya even feel the cold?” You asked.

Sans let himself float closer to you.

“Sure I can...”

“Don’t.”

“Can’t ya see?”

“Sans.”

“I’m chilled to the bone.” 

You dunked the skeleton underneath the water. Papyrus ran out onto Sans balcony as you held him under. 

“Fear not brother! I shall save you!” He shouted, jumping off his brothers balcony and into the deep end of the pool.

“Pap!” You gasped.

Sans popping back up next to you with an entertained smile, “‘Sup bro. What’re you doin’ up?”

Papyrus crosses his arms and trudged through the water to get to the shallow end, “I heard your terrible puns in my sleep and came to scold you for it.” 

“Well now we’re in a river bed, so you can get some shut eye.” Sans winked at his brother. 

“This is a pool, brother.” Papyrus was smiling but his voice sounded irritated. 

A cold gust of wind made you shiver. Papyrus said something about getting you a towel before running back into the house. You were about to climb out of the water when you felt something lightly embrace your hand. Your eyes shot down to see Sans skeletal fingers intertwined with yours.

“Thanks for swimmin’ with me.” You said softly.

“Didn’t have much of a choice.” He replied, his voice lower. 

Neither of you realized how close you’d gotten until your lips were touching his skull. Sans’ free hand touched your cheek and gently pulled you closer to him as he kissed you passionately. Your free hand went behind his skull and you felt yourself smiling into the kiss.

“Nyeh!” Papyrus blushed, “Public displays of affection a-are-“

“Are great!” You shouted, pulling the skeleton back into the pool. The opportunity was here, you had to take it! Papyrus laughed with Sans as the taller skeleton lifted you out of the water and tossed you to the deep end.

Under the water you smiled at the brothers. 

Then your eyes caught something behind them, a large black figure. It couldn’t have been Gaster, Sans said he was gone! You quickly swam to the surface, only to see Papyrus and Sans in a fighting stance. Neither of them were prepared but there were plenty of weapons in the house, if Sans needed he could take a shortcut and come back before anything too bad could happen. Papyrus had his fists clenched and a dangerous look on his face that frightened you. Sans looked equally as menacing as his brother.   
Your heart pounded in your chest as a monster came forward. Papyrus let his guard down but Sans did not, which made you nervous. The monster cat began talking to Sans, just soft enough for you not to hear. The taller skeleton gave a small signal for you to hide behind him, luckily, you noticed and tried to swim over as quietly as you could. The monster glanced at you just as you slipped behind Papyrus, grateful he was wearing a shirt so you wouldn’t be seen through his ribs. Sans growled when the monster looked at you, making him force his attention back to the other skeleton. You were close enough now to hear what they had to say.

“...The building is gone, sir.” The monsters raspy voice coughed out.

“Were there any survivors?” Sans asked, finally relaxing a bit and crossing his arms.

“A few. Really only the ones that happened to be gone when the fire was started. Your humans roommate wasn’t one of ‘em, couldn’t find her anywhere.” 

Your breath hitched. 

Roxy was dead?

Your apartment and your roommate were both gone. You didn’t need an explanation, you were apart of this mafia business now- whether you liked it or not. Your brother did this to make a point to the skeletons. Little did he know that by dragging the people you cared about into this, he was in for a very bad time. You were so angry that tears of fury began to fall from your eyes. You tried to blink them away but they refused to stop. Suddenly all fear went out the window, you kicked your feet until you were at the edge of the pool. With strength that wasn’t there before, you lifted yourself up effortlessly in one motion. You were almost positive the skeletons and the cat monster were watching and it only made you want to get out of the situation quicker.  
You didn’t bother grabbing the towel Papyrus brought for you, you stormed into the house and ran up to your room. You pulled off the wet clothes that stuck to your body uncomfortably. You threw on a new bra and oversized, (f/c) sweatshirt that came with with matching, extra soft, (f/c) socks. You had pulled up your shorts when Sans made his shortcut into your room. The tears were gone but the pain remained. 

“Woah, woah, what’re you doin’?” He asked, looking away until your shorts were adjusted properly.

“I’m going to my parents house.” You growled. Sans flinched at the harshness of your tone. He hadn’t seen you like this in a long time, you hardly ever got this mad.

“Is that-“

“No, it’s probably notta good idea but I don’t care.” You said, sighing, “You can drive me or I can take a taxi.”

You only asked to make him feel slightly better but also so he knew you were determined to go. You knew Sans wasn’t going to let you fling yourself into danger but you also weren’t going to let Vino ruin everything you’d worked so hard for. Sans was in the drivers position when he asked for your plan. Papyrus was in the backseat, looking quite green for a skeleton. Perhaps he felt how you did, sick with a big helping of rage.

“I’m gonna tell my parents Vino’s alive. I’ll explain what I can and leave ya both out so I’m goin’ in alone.” You explained, “If they can’t convince him to stop I’ll...”

What would you do? You weren’t going to lie, the temptation to actually fulfill his empty grave was nagging in the back of your head. No, you weren’t a murderer but your boyfriends were, a twisted smile came to your face at the wicked thought. Neither of those were options you would consider so, in all honesty, you didn’t know what you were going to do. The redemption quality in your soul was a big part of who you were, you were kind of trying on your mom to revamp her oldest child. If anyone could talk Vino out of this crazed mafia business it was her.

You got out of the car and ran up to the house, pounding your fist on the door. It was really late, they might not even be-

“(Name)!” Your mother was in tears with a big smile on her face as he engulfed you in a hug. Did she hear about the fire already? Your mother wasn’t one for news before bed, she was convinced it gave her nightmares. 

“Ma, I-“

“Oh, baby, we should’a called you the moment we knew! We were just so excited!” The happiness in her voice never faltered as tears continued to fall.

Excited? 

“You must’a felt it in your heart, Il mio bambino (my baby)!” Your father yelled from the living room. You pushed past your mom and made the sharp turn to see your dad, also in tears. Hugging Vino. 

“Oh, (Name)! It’s so good to see you again!” Vino gave you a devilish smile.


	15. No Excuses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You attempt to reach out to Vino and it kind of works? But you’re still mad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a happy ending in mind and a not so happy ending, either was it ends with you being content... hm decisions decisions..
> 
> sorry this took so long! been wrapped up with work and such, i hope you enjoy!
> 
> requests are open !

Chapter 15

“Come, sit!” Your mom pulled you to the couch, sitting you next to your father and taking the vacant spot next to Vino.

“Vino just told us how he was in hiding from the monster mafia, that’s why he couldn’t come see us!” 

“What makes ya so sure it’s safe to come out now?” You spat. Your mother and father gave each other a nervous glance at your tone, what an odd reaction to their glorious news!

Vino looked equally as nervous. He must not have thought of a proper excuse.

“Well.. I’ve been told the monster’s that ‘killed’ me will be caught soon.”

“If you were under such protective care, don’t ya think they’d make ya wait until they were actually caught!?” Your voice raised a bit.

“(Name), what’s gotten into ya!?” Your dad yelled in shock.

This wasn’t the way. 

Arguing, exposing him would solve nothing. You had to play the part. Tears began forming in your eyes, real ones of frustration and sadness for your previous home and roommate, Roxy. 

“I-I just don’t want Vino to disappear again.” You cried. Not for Vino, for everything else you’ve lost since he decided to return. You glared at him through your tears.

Your dad wiped his eyes and hugged you as your mom pulled Vino into a sweet embrace. As you glared daggers at him, he ignored you and completely let himself be comforted by your mom. He seemed genuinely at peace as she hugged him. The hatred and anger you felt melted away, for a moment you saw your brother and not an enemy. Your mind raced to the possibility of salvation. Perhaps there was hope for Vino after all...

After a lot of crying and more talking, your mom and dad went to their room. They invited you to stay over since it was so late, they still didn’t know about your apartment or current whereabouts. You waited impatiently for them to actually fall asleep before emerging from your own room. Crossing the hall you stormed into Vino’s room. He was cautiously touching everything, wiping the dust between his fingers.

“It’s as if I neva left.” Vino whispered to himself. 

“Ma wouldn’t let anyone move a thing.” You said, crossing your arms. 

Your brother jumped, he must not have heard you come in. He’d been crying, he almost looked pitiful. You wanted to be angry at him right now and let him have it but you were just so tired of fighting. Overwhelmed with emotions you whimpered and sat on his bed, holding your head in your hands. You began crying again.

“Sis?” Vino was uncomfortable and shocked.

“Y-You don’t even know how hard it was. Building that l-life f’me after you died.” You sobbed quietly.

“Yes I do.” He growled, flinching at your words.

“I’m sure ya had your lil’ spies but you can’t KNOW!” You looked up at him, “Mom and dad were finally ok. I had 3 jobs to get my first apartment with Roxy.”

Vino turned away from you but continued to listen as he re-explored his childhood room.

“People called after you died but no one stuck around ‘cept her. Even her dumb boyfriend did his best to keep me company sometimes.” You laughed bitterly, “Now she’s gone. Everything is.”

Vino let out a shaky breath as he set down an old toy. He lunged at you, making you squeak, shut your eyes and hold up your arms in defense. 

No impact. 

You felt a tight hold around you. You opened your eyes wearily, only to see Vino hugging you. Your heart was doing backflips in your chest.

“Why didn’t ya cry f’me, sis?” Vino was sobbing now.

“I was mad. I’m still mad at ya.” You mumbled but returned the embrace. 

“I know.” He sighed and let you go, sitting across from you on the floor, “I had people spyin’ on ya, yeah, but I neva wanted to hear what you was doin. I wanted ta forget about you... like you forgot ‘bout me.”

“Jerk,” You threw a pillow at your brother, “I never forgot about you.”

Vino let out a genuine laugh and let himself fall back on the floor from your pillow attack. You couldn’t help but give a little smile. He would do this all the time when you were little. Vino would let you sit on his bed and rant about your terrible days of middle school or rave happily about the person you were crushing on that week while he lied on the floor.

“Catch me up.” Vino said, resting his head on the pillow as he kicked his feet up on the bed.

“Yeah, lemme jus’ cram 10 year’s into a sentence.” You rolled your eyes. You were still mad, don’t let your guard down.

“C’mon. Humor me.” Vino gave you a lopsided smile. 

You gave your brother a suspicious look. He had his eyes closed but he was obviously awake and awaiting your response. You let out a small sigh and wiped your eyes. Maybe this was the one chance you had to reach out to him, see if your brother was still in there somewhere and drag him out! Your breath was still shaky and your eyes hurt now but with a sniffle you managed to tell Vino everything. 

You didn’t leave out a detail. 

Not mom’s suffering, dad’s money struggles and not the skeletons. Though you didn’t tell him about the recent soul marking stuff that’s gone on. That should definitely remain a secret.

“Then Sans and Papyrus got Roxy and I a nicer place to live.” You glared at Vino, who was remaining comfortably on the ground, “But now that’s gone.”

Vino finally opened his eyes, “Snazz and Papyrus’r those skeletons right?” 

“His name is- Were you not paying attention to anythin’ I just said?” You squinted at him.

“Nah, I was!” He held up his arms in defense, “Jus’ checkin’.” 

You rolled your eyes, looking to the dark, empty hallway.

“I’m sorry, sis.” 

“No you’re not.” You whispered hoarsely.

“How can ya say that?” Vino glared at you as he sat up.

Your (e/c) orbs looked at him from the corner of your eyes, “I was happy. You were willing to sacrifice my life to keep that happiness away from me.”

“Monsters are bad. They-“

“Sans and Papyrus weren’t the ones that tried kill you, were they?” You stared hard down at him, making him freeze, “Didn’t think so.”

You stood up, looking over him, “If a human kills another human, does that make every human bad?”

“No, it-“ Vino looked scared, his (e/c) eyes were wide as you stepped towards him and with every inch he backed away. 

“And if a human kills a monster, what does that make them?” You finally stopped, glaring down at him.

Vino wanted to glare back up at you. He wanted to tell you how wrong you were about monsters, about him! Yet he couldn’t speak, his feelings were betraying what he wanted to say. How dare his little sister confuse him like this!

Without another word you left Vino’s room. When your back was turned, he reached out to grab you but missed. Not looking back, you closed his door behind you. Sadly trailing down the stairs, you decided you’d text Sans to pick you up. Before leaving the house you did just that and smiled to yourself as you left a heart at the end of the message. You closed the front door and dug through your pockets for a cigarette.   
Dang, you were really failing Papyrus with your silent promise to him. If you weren’t so stressed with this situation, more than likely you’d be following through with it! You wanted to curse Vino for all this pressure you were under. You didn’t want to be stressed out anymore, you wanted to focus on your newfound relationship, your new job! You had so many good things going for you but you were in a rut, all your energy now had to go towards keeping your brother at bay. He was clearly unstable, you’d have to tell Papyrus and Sans to be extra careful should they have another encounter with him.  
You saw a car slow down and come to a stop a few feet ahead of you. It’s a thing you didn’t get to light your cigarette, you didn’t feel like getting scolded by Paps right now. You stood up and cracked your back before heading to the car. As you walked forward a bit, you glanced towards your house. You saw Vino in his room, he pulled back the curtain to look at you when his eyes widened with fear. You froze when you watched as he darted away from his window, possibly out of his room. You heard the car door open and snapped your head towards it only to see a fist shooting forward. 

Then nothing. 

Damn, you probably should’ve checked to see if that was Sans car, huh?


	16. The Deal Gone Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JEES LUISE IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!
> 
> work was hounding me and when i did get to write i was invested in my mermaid fic! 
> 
> but!
> 
> now things are getting interesting *eye brow wiggle*

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

This wasn’t apart of the plan. 

Kidnapping was thrown out the window!

The plan was to try and convince you to stay home with Ma and Pa while Vino cleaned the city of the pests! Now you were confusing him with your logic and making him feel crazy for hating monsters! On top of THAT you went and got yourself kidnapped! Oi vey, what a night Vino was having. He was furious his men would go against his direct orders. If a mutiny was in order he’d bring them all down with him. Where were those fucking monsters that were attached to your hips? Surely they had a chip in your neck or something. As Vino stood on the street, looking towards the direction the car that took you drove off in, another vehicle pulled up near him. Your brother did his best to swallow his pride as he faced two very angry skeleton brothers.

“Where is she?” The short one growled, eyeing the area for you or anyone suspicious looking.

“Ya ain’t gonna like what I have to say.” Vino growled back, crossing his arms.

The taller skeletons demeanor changed immediately, he looked frightening.

“Answer my brothers question, we will not ask again.” He snarled.

“They took her, alright!” Vino pulled his hair in frustration.

“W h o.” The short skeletons’ eyelight went out, making him look menacing. These two were not to be underestimated, for the first time Vino saw them as a potential threat and not a joke. 

“My gang? I-I didn’t tell them to so someone else must be callin’ the shots!” 

“Where is your head quarters.” The tall one asked, crossing his arms. Vino hesitated.

“Vino, this is important.” The short one was looking rather desperate now, worried even.

“Cross town. Small hotel next to the bank.” He sighed.

“Why would they want (Name)?” The taller monster asked, his brother heading towards the car he left running. 

“I don’t fuckin’ know!” Vino growled in frustration.

“Well?” The shorter skeleton called from the car, a dangerous smirk plastered on his face, “Are you two comin’ or am I lookin’ for (Name) solo?” 

 

You opened your eyes but could see nothing. The air was stale and hot so you immediately assumed there was something covering your head, a pillowcase or something. You let out a shaking breathe as you felt your heart pounding inside your chest. This entire situation was terrifying but you read on what to do. Step 1: Listen and look for anything you can recognize. Obviously choice one was not an option, you were temporarily blind. Moving on. Unfamiliar voices were cutting in and out of earshot. You could hear them speaking but the words were drummed out.

...Ok, how the hell were you supposed to move on from the first step if you can’t see or hear!? You started hyperventilating, panic mode was engaging. How could you deny such a reasonable request? You’d been kidnapped, you can’t see or hear anything and you have no idea if you’ll make it out alive- THIS SEEMS LIKE THE PERFECT TIME TO PANIC. As your breathing quickened and your positive train of thought vanished, the walls of the bag seemed to be closing in on you. Air was fading and you began wiggling around to try and free yourself from the bag on your head.  
You realized you were lying on your stomach, hands bound tightly behind your back. This was probably another reason why you couldn’t breath properly but wiggling around wasn’t doing anything. Your vision was failing you, you were officially about to pass out. You inhaled one last breath of air when suddenly, the bag was ripped off your head and you were sat up. You cough and panted, gasping for proper air. You disguised this time to take a look around and saw you were in a dimly lot warehouse, much like the one Sans and Papyrus’ owned. If it weren’t for al the humans around, they could almost be identical buildings! 

“Relax.” A voice ordered.

You whipped your head around to see a big, burly man that you’d never seen before. Judging by that note, you guessed you were in an area you’d never been before. Different gangs ran different areas, you were already far from your comfort zone but now, even if you were to escape, you’d be lost. Even so, you did your best to remain calm at the command of the man. You could still feel your heart pounding hard against your chest. 

This wasn’t one of Vino’s men. 

“You prolly have ‘lotta questions.” He said, circling you. You noticed you were sitting on the floor in a corner of the big room. 

You nodded.

“I got time for one.” He growled.

Don’t waste this on something stupid, (Name).

“What are your intentions? W-With me?” You asked. 

The man smirked, “What, no, ‘Who are you?’, ‘Why me?’, Where am I?’?” 

You simply stared back at the big, bad boss. 

“I like ya kid. A’right, no funny business.” He stopped circling you when he was back in front of you, “I’m a loan shark. We know yer brother is alive an’ he borrowed a lot of money from us before he ‘died’. A. Lot.” 

You let out another shaky breath.

“So, naturally, you’ll come in by bein’ the bait. Yer a very popular lady, y’know that?” He chuckled darkly, “We weren’t even your original kidnappers.”

You opened your mouth to ask another question but before you could even figure out what it was, the man began walking away. 

 

Sans didn’t bother pulling the car to a full stop before he jumped out of the drivers seat and summoned his Gaster Blasters. It wasn’t intentional, his anger must have triggered it- which was weird, normally his emotions were under control. The door to the building was already kicked in, not a good sign. Vino shoved past Sans and ran inside, furious and confused. The place looked like it had been ransacked but nothing was missing. Men were unconscious, couches and such flipped but everything of value remained. 

“This don’t make sense!? I was sure that was their car!” Vino shouted in confusion, whipping his head around the room. All his men were forcefully knocked out so no one was available to explain the mess. Vino was silently hoping that this was a prank. Hell, he wouldn’t even be mad if it was! A prank was far better than what his mind was conjuring up. 

Seems like Vino had his own panic mode. 

You and your brother were more alike than the skeleton brothers’ realized. 

Papyrus and Sans stood a few feet away watching suspiciously as Vino began hyperventilating. The taller skeleton let out a loud, frustrated growl and stomped over to the human. Papyrus stood in front of him for a moment before reeling his arm back and making a decisive, swiping motion, backhanding Vino. He actually flew back a bit, landing on his ass. 

“ENOUGH! WHERE IS MY HUMAN.” Papyrus demanded. Sans’ amused look soured and turned to shock immediately. Orange tears pricked at the bottom of Papyrus’ eye sockets. This wasn’t normal. The skeleton brothers had their ‘professional’ hats on and under no circumstances were they allowed to cry! If Gaster was here he would probably flip this building upside down before anyone would notice his tears.

“I can feel how terrified she is.” Papyrus said, calming himself down.

This made Sans freeze in place, his eye light all but disappeared. 

First of all, everyone was in agreement to keep your brother in the dark about the whole soulmate ordeal.   
Second, this was somewhat unheard of. Marks never had reactions like this, only after soul bonding could you begin to-

Oh stars, did you and Papyrus-!?

“H-How do ya know that...?” Vino interrupted San’s thoughts.

Papyrus realized his mistake and turned away from both Sans and Vino, “She is my best friend. I just know.” 

There he goes again, lying without actually lying. What a truly brilliant scam! 

The monsters’ answer must have satisfied Vino because he did not press the matter further. The three split up and began looking for anything that could give them a lead. Sans, who normally would have flipped the couch right side up and relaxed, was digging through James’ office. The only reason he knew it belonged to the human was because the many, many modeling pictures he had hanging on the walls.   
He sat himself in the rolling chair before the desk and roughed up his organized chaos. This was petty revenge for taking his lady out hehe. James would never know, anyways, for all he knew it was whoever ransacked this place! The skeleton opened up a filing cabinet and strategically looked through every bit of paper, soaking up more information than needed. Not so different from his own, Sans found a manila folder packed with a file of every member in this gang. Not caring for the names he didn’t know, Sans plucked out Vino’s folder. His eye light darted from sentence to sentence until he reached something of interest. A growl escaped the skeleton as he shot up from the desk and marched to find the human. 

“What’s this?” Sans’ voice was low and irritated. 

But that was how he always sounded to Vino. 

Sans slammed down the file the table that Papyrus had flipped upright. His brother was currently working on getting a few other pieces of furniture back to their original state.   
Vino looked down to the file and saw his name in tiny, cursive letters. James handwriting, no doubt, but he made the man write ‘normally’. Vino was dyslexic and reading cursive gave him a headache. 

“It‘s some file with my name on it. So what?”

Sans growled and opened it up for your brother. Pictures of his family, probably after his faked death and a few recent ones of you fell out. A boney hand swiped them away to reveal a contract that had Vino’s signature on the bottom. It was dated for quite a few years ago, before his death. Sans received the reaction he wanted in the first place, Vino’s eyes widened in realization. 

“Oh fuck.” He slapped his forehead. 

“Y’know who this is, pal?” Sans said sarcastically, “Them’s the ‘Blood Biters’. They’ll give ya money and come after your blood if ya don’t-“

“Yeah, yeah, loan sharks, don’t ya think I’d know that?”

Sans held his arms up and shot the young man a look that screamed ‘I don’t know at this point, you’re kind of an idiot!’. 

“Fuck I.. I forgot, I guess I thought they’d drop it, by now.” Vino sighed, tugging his hair. 

“What about their casual name makes ya think they’d drop this?” Sans smacked the contract lightly. 

“You don’t think...” Vino trailed off.

“I have no doubt. You was stupid enough to come outta hidin’, one of them must’a seen ya!” Sans spat, “Now yer sister is gonna pay for it!” 

Papyrus had been leaning over, inspecting the contract. He was a bit of an expert on the subject, conjuring up most- if not all of their own contracts. 

“It says ‘In result of death, failure to compensate or should you take your own life, the debt owed will fall onto immediate family members.’ I take it this did not happen.” Papyrus said obviously. 

“(Name) woulda said somethin’ to us.” Sans mumbled.

“Didn’t she hafta take on 3 jobs or somethin’?” Vino shrugged, guilt creeping in on him.

“That was for unrelated reasons.” Papyrus glared at him. 

“They must’a known you was alive.” Sans was tapping his skull, trying to think of any helpful knowledge he had on this group.

“In such a case, they’d have added however many years of interest onto this. Presuming it’s the Blood Biters, that would be going by the day.” Papyrus’ voice got lower.

“W-We got money here, I-“

“It won’t be enough.” Sans shook his skull.

Vino flipped the table and shouted in frustration, marching into a different room. Papyrus gave his own frustrated huff, he JUST picked up that table.

Sans followed Vino as he stalked his way up to a large vault in a room full of calculators and typewriters. The young man punched in a code and swung the large door open as if it wasn’t heavy metal. The skeleton continued to follow the human into a room stocked with cash, jewelry and some vintage coins. 

“I-I ain’t so good with numbas. This’s gotta do it. Right?” Vino’s tone was a pleading one, threatening to crack. 

The monster took pity upon your brother for a moment. He sighed and leaned himself against a shelf, shuffling until he was comfortable. 

“You needed... How much.” Sans demanded, closing his eye sockets.

“I needed 5 grand, flat.” 

“How long’s it been.” 

“...10 years.”

Sans visualized the numbers in his mind. Pap’s said they’d be adding interest by the day. That could be any number. Since it ain’t exactly legal, they could be charging him 5 grand for every day it wasn’t paid off. It’s their contract, their money so their rules. Sans saw you smiling and opened his eye sockets wide. You were priceless. 

“I’d say, worse case scenario, you’re lookin’ at $18,250,000.” 

“What!?”

“5 grand, multiply that by 365 days for a year then multiply that by 10 more years.” Sans shrugged, “I ain’t a mathematician but it can’t be worse than that.” 

“You’re makin’ a joke?” Vino finally turned completely towards the monster.

“No one likes a sad sack.” 

Vino gave a light chuckle at that. 

“Quite possibly, you would be right brother, but I have found the correct amount needed to return our (Name) to us.” Papyrus’ voice filled the room. 

Vino exited the fault, rushing over to the other skeleton with a glimmer of hope. 

Papyrus had the contract Vino signed and a blank sheet of paper on top of that one. His eye sockets were darker than usual and held a eery amount of joy with the twisted smirk on his face.

“We are going to make a deal, Mr. (Last Name).”


	17. A Roxy Road

Chapter 17

 

You closed your eyes and held your breath as you walked through your mind, poking in all of your thoughts. Sans and Papyrus had to be looking for you by now. It wasn’t typical behavior for you to not send them a courtesy ‘Hey, still alive!’ message. Sans especially appreciated those. He used to get so paranoid when you didn’t respond after an hour that he would teleport to your apartment, most of the time he’d find you sleeping!  
You opened your eyes and found yourself staring at the ceiling with a smile on your face. Your apartment was so comfortable, always smelling like waffles and coffee mixed with baileys- per Roxy’s request. You filled the place with scented candles and would only light them when you cleaned. You’d play your music and dance around with the broom as you swept and Roxy would laugh for a few minutes but she always danced with you. Your lips twitched downward as your memories flicked over your time in the apartment. It was really gone. Roxy was-

“Oi vey, ma fuckin’ head.” 

That voice came from behind you.

Your hands were tied behind your back, attached to the chair you sat on so you couldn’t move too much. You tried to turn your head to the left but didn’t make it far when your attention was grasped by the big, bad boss. He waddled by on the right side of you, making you whip your head in his direction. 

“Doll, since ya been such a wonderful hostage we got’cha a present.” He said with a big, creepy smile. 

You didn’t say anything. 

“What? Ya ain’t curious?” His lips pursed into a fine line.

“What’s the catch?” You asked.

The unpleasant smile returned.

“Well ‘m so glad ya asked.” He began circling you like a shark, “I’ve been a very tolerable guy. Done YEARS of waiting. I’m losing my patience now, ya see?” 

“And?”

“I thought yer lil’ monster bodyguards would ‘preciate a call. Y’know. Help speed things along?” The man rolled his hand to exaggerate. 

You nodded.

The boss man snapped his fingers and a tall man with a gun strapped to his arm pulled out a burner phone. 

“3 minutes.” He said, his voice was deeper and much more intimidating than the boss’s. 

“I can’t press buttons with my nose.” You raised a brow at the tall man in front of you. He didn’t think that was as amusing as you did. 

You told him Sans’ number and watched as he dialed with precision. When he was positive the phone was ringing, he held it up to your ear. 

“(Name)?” Sans’ voice made you smile and suck in a deep breath. It sounded like he was in a car. Driving and talking on the phone was indeed a habit of his. 

“How’d ya know?” You asked, genuinely curious. The skeleton never answered a number he didn’t know.

“Lucky guess.” Sans attempted a joke but you could hear the strain in his voice. 

The boss man snapped his fingers to get your attention, making a circular motion with his finger to ‘wrap it up’.

“Well, uh, I-I’m alive? I don’t know where I am though.” 

“That’s alright, babe, we do.” His voice was irritated. You could hear arguing in the background and Papyrus shout something random. 

“They just want Vino.”

“We got him.” 

You didn’t know what to say and struggled to think of anything.

“(Name)?” He asked quietly.

“Yes?” 

“Are ya hurt?” The fighting in the background stopped. The only thing you could hear on his end was the motor of a vehicle.

“No, Sansy.”

“Time.” The man holding the phone pulled it from your ear. You could hear Sans yelling your name as the man snapped the phone in half. 

You gave a little sigh of defeat but hope remained inside you. Papyrus and Sans were on their way, that’s all you needed to know.

“Now for your gift.” The boss snapped his fingers and before you was dragged-

ROXY! 

You knew that sounded like your hungover friend!

“Roxy! Roxy Road!” You shouted her nickname and watched as she jerked up upon hearing your voice.

“(Nickname)!” 

You jolted forward to throw you arms around her when you remembered your current predicament. You were still tied to a pole. That didn’t stop Roxy from leaping forward and hugging you so tightly you couldn’t breathe! The burly men around you must have been uncomfortable with affection because they all turned away, just enough so they weren’t looking at you. You managed to let out a laugh as you nuzzled into her neck, she smelled like a bonfire but she was here! Her blonde hair was tickling your face and you could feel her erratic breathing. You were both crying but her face was already stained with tears and running makeup. Your poor friend must have been so frightened! 

“I’m so glad you’re alive!” You cried, wiping your face on her shoulder.

Roxy gasped and pulled away from the hug, gripping your shoulder tightly. Your smile faded as you saw the horror in her eyes. 

“Brad. H-He’s with them! That guy!” 

“Wait, Roxy, I don’t understand.” You said calmly, hoping it would rub off on her.

“That guy! The one that came to our apartment with-“

“With Vino.” An all too familiar voice crept in on your conversation.

Roxy jumped and make a nervous squeak as she moved behind you- more to the side of you but still using you to shield her. 

“James!?” You tilted your head, still confused. 

“You’re so pretty, especially when you’re confused.” James commented with a snarky smirk, “Which happens to be often, doesn’t it?” 

“That’s the guy.” Roxy whispered, quiet enough so James couldn’t hear.

A lightbulb went off in your head. 

“Brad works for you?” You asked.

“Technically his name isn’t Brad but to answer your question, yes. Or rather, he works for Vino. I work for him.” The man pointed a thumb in the direction of the big boss man, who was a few feet away. 

“You’re a rat?” 

“His name isn’t even Brad!?” Roxy whined, her lip was quivering. (Is it possible that she was drunk or were her brain cells just all dead?)

“You offend me, (Name). I’m not a rat, I just give information to whoever pays me the most.” 

Suddenly your attention was drawn to the darkness behind James. Way behind him was a dark corner of the warehouse, crates stacked up high to create a large shadow. In that shadow was a familiar face with a boney finger up to its ‘mouth’.  
You forced yourself to pay attention to James as he continued with his monologue.

“Your brother had made a bad enemy before his ‘death’.” James explained, “I was working for the old leader of that gang before Vino took over. Before powers shifted, Mr. Bitters was kind enough to give me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” 

You safely assumed the name belonged to that boss a foot or so away.

“I don’t care about that.” You deadpanned.

“And that doesn’t explain about Bra- w-whoever it was that I was ‘dating’!” Roxy shouted.

“Lexus started ‘dating’ you the moment (Name) was taken under those monsters care. Per Vino’s request.” James snapped his fingers and Former Brad hesitantly walked forward. He was staring at the ground shamefully. 

“The fool wasn’t supposed to fall in love. You can thank him for saving your life after the trade is complete.” 

“What trade?” Roxy asked.

“The moment Vino walks in, it’s his life for yours.” James said, turning to leave. 

“Wait!” You leaned forward. 

James was smirking as he looked towards you.

“What will happen to my brother?” You asked quietly.

James faced you and kneeled down to get in your face.

“That’s the best part. You’re going to witness a double crossing.” His eyes were filled with something demonic, “Your brother will come in to save your life with his, I’m going to shoot Mr. Bitters and ‘rescue’ all of you. Your brother will be so grateful that he’ll offer your hand to me.”

“He doesn’t own me.” You growled.

“You won’t have a choice if you want him to live.” James smile widened to a creepy extent. He was no longer the charming man you once met, perhaps he never was.

“I’m spoken for.” You leaned in to give your own wicked smirk.

James recoiled as if you said something absurdly revolting, “You mean those skeletons have had their boney hands all over you!?” 

“They marked me!” You shouted with an awkward gesture towards your hip. Well, one skeleton did anyways. You were too upset to get into the logistics of it, “And if ya think for a second they would let near me, you’re a bigger fuckin’ idiot than Vino.”

That did it. 

James unsheathed a knife and sliced the rope holding your wrists” Boys. Hold‘r down for me.” 

You were thrown to the ground but before you could sit up, you were forced down. You tried to kick and wiggle away but two of James’ men held you firmly in place. He watched as you panicked and began hyperventilating. The worst thing you could imagine wasn’t what he had in mind. James studied your face and smirked as your eyes darted down towards your hip, not that you could see it. The man plucked a pair of dirty, broken glasses that was hanging off his v-neck shirt. He put them on and studied your lower half. Testing, he jabbing a finger right on Papyrus’ mark, making you cry out.

“(Name)!?” Roxy shouted, trying to get past Not Brad who was holding her back. 

James tugged your pants low enough to see the mark on your skin. 

“I heard this is permanent. Let’s test that.” The cold blade came closer to your hip when you screamed at the top of your lungs.


End file.
